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QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY  SERIES.— No.  LXXVL 

INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION 
AND  CONCILIATION 


SOME  CHAPTERS  FROM  THE  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY 
OF  THE  PAST  THIRTY  YEARS 


COMPILED  BY 
JOSEPHINE  SHAW  LOWELL 


OF    1 

UNIVERSITY 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 

27    WEST   TWENTY-THIRD   STREET  ,    24    BEDFORD    STREET,   STRAND 

®^e  fimckerboeker  Iprcss 
1902 


QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY. 

(  The  numbers  omitted  represent  Monographs  no  longer  in  print.) 

9 — The  Destructive  Influence  of  the  Tariff  upon  Manufacture  and 
Commerce,  and  the  Figures  and  Facts  Relating  thereto.  By 
J.  SCHOBNHOP.  Octavo,  cloth,  75  cents;  paper  .  40 

14 — "  The  Jukes."  A  Study  in  Crime,  Pauperism,  Disease,  and 
Heredity.  By  R.  L.  DUGDALE.  Octavo,  cloth  .  .100 

23 — Social  Economy.  By  J.  E.  THOROLD  ROGERS.  Octavo, 
cloth 75 

24 — The  History  of  the  Surplus  Revenue  of  1837.  By  EDWARD  G. 
BOURNE.  Octavo,  cloth i  25 

25 — The  American  Caucus  System.  By  GEORGE  W.  LAWTON- 
Octavo,  cloth,  i. oo ;  paper 50 

28 — The  Postulates  of  English  Political  Economy.  By  WALTER 
BAGEHOT.  Octavo,  cloth  .  .  .  .100 

30 — The  Industrial  Situation.  By  J.  SCHOENHOP.  Octavo, 
cloth  .  .  . i  oo 

35 — Unwise  Laws.     By  LEWIS  H.  BLAIR.     Octavo,  cloth  .     i  oo 

36— Railway  Practice.  By  E.  PORTER  ALEXANDER.  Octavo, 
cloth 75 

37 — American  State  Constitutions:  A  Study  of  their  Growth.  By 
HENRY  HITCHCOCK,  LL.D.  Octavo,  cloth  .  .  75 

39 — Federal  Taxation  and  State  Expenses;  or,  An  Analysis  of  a 
County  Tax- List.  By  W.  H.  JONES.  Octavo,  cloth  .  i  oo 

40 — The  Margin  of  Profits.  By  EDWARD  ATKINSON.  Together 
with  the  Reply  of  E.  M.  CHAMBERLAIN,  Representing  the 
Labor  Union,  and  Mr.  Atkinson's  Rejoinder.  Cloth,  75  cents; 
paper 40 

43 — Slav  or  Saxon:  A  Study  of  the  Growth  and  Tendencies  of  Rus- 
sian Civilization.  By  WM.  D.  FOULKE,  A.M.  New  revised 
edition.  Octavo,  cloth i  oo 

47 — The  Tariff  History  of  the  United  States.  By  F.  W.  TAUSSIG. 
Revised,  and  with  additional  material.  Octavo  i  25 


INDUSTRIAL     ARBITRATION 
AND  CONCILIATION 


SOME  CHAPTERS  FROM  THE  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY 
OF  THE  PAST  THIRTY  YEARS 


COMPILED  BY 
JOSEPHINE   SHAW   LOWELL 


G.  P.  PUTNAM'S  SONS 

NEW    YORK  LONDON 

27  WEST  TWENTY-THIRD    STREET  24    BEDFORD  STREET,   STRAND 


1902 


GENERAL 


COPYRIGHT,   1893 
BY 

JOSEPHINE  SHAW  LOWELL 


Ube  "fcnfcberbocfter  f>re0s,  *ftew  J?ocft 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PREFACE ., v 

CHAPTER 

I. — TRADES-UNIONS  AS  AFFECTED  BY  LAW,  1800-1890      .        .        i 
II. — THE  INDUSTRIAL  SITUATION,  1876.    BY  HENRY  CROMPTON,      u 

III. — ARBITRATION     IN     ENGLAND,     1860-1876.       BY     HENRY 

CROMPTON        .        .        . 16 

IV. — CONCILIATION     IN     ENGLAND,     1860-1876.      BY    HENRY 

CROMPTON 20 

V.— CONCILIATION  IN  ENGLAND  (Continued),  1869-1890.  "THE 
PEACEABLE  SETTLEMENT  OF  LABOR  DISPUTES."  BY 
ROBERT  SPENCE  WATSON .28 

VI. — CONCILIATION  IN  BELGIUM.    THE  COLLIERY  OF  BASCOUP, 

1876-1893 41 

VII. — CONCILIATION  IN  BELGIUM  (Continued).      THE  COLLIERY 

OF  MARIEMONT,  1888-1893     « 54 

VIII. — CONCILIATION    BETWEEN    MASON    BUILDERS   AND    BRICK- 
LAYERS IN  NEW  YORK,  1885-1893          ....      64 

IX. — PROGRESS  OF  CONCILIATION  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY/  1892      .      75 

X. — CONCILIATION  BETWEEN  MASON  BUILDERS  AND  BRICK- 
LAYERS IN  CHICAGO,  1887-1893 81 

XI. — THE  NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION  OF  BUILDERS,  AND  CONCILIA- 
TION        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .        .90 

XII. — CONCILIATION  IN  THE  BUILDING  TRADES  OF  BOSTON  AND 

VICINITY,  1891-1893 99 


iii 

11286! 


PREFACE. 


MY  object  in  compiling  this  book  is  to  present  an  ac- 
count of  some  of  the  methods  by  which  industrial  peace 
has  been  sought  and  attained  in  many  large  industries 
both  in  Europe  and  in  this  country,  and  to  hold  up  to 
the  gratitude  and  respect  of  their  fellow-employers  and 
fellow-workmen  the  achievements  of  the  men  who  have 
by  these  methods  already  brought  a  blessing  to  thou- 
sands and  broken  a  path  which  all  may  now  follow. 

Actuated  by  the  highest  sense  of  justice  and  love  of 
right,  they  have  been  so  happy  as  to  be  able  to  put  their 
principles  into  practice  and  to  watch  the  successful  re- 
sults of  their  efforts,  and  they  have  from  time  to  time 
published  some  account  of  what  they  have  done.  It  is 
from  their  own  writings  that  I  have  collected  the  mate- 
rials I  have  used. 

I  offer  them  my  own  most  earnest  gratitude. 

JOSEPHINE  SHAW  LOWELL. 

March  5,  1893. 


INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION 
AND  CONCILIATION 


INDUSTRIAL   ARBITRATION    AND 
CONCILIATION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

TRADES-UNIONS  AS  AFFECTED  BY  LAW. 
1800-1890. 

EVERY  citizen  of  the  United  States  in  every  matter 
which  concerns  his  political  welfare  and  the  political 
welfare  of  the  country,  recognizes  himself  and  is  recog- 
nized as  being  "  free  and  independent."  Freedom  of 
asb^nbly,  freedom  of  debate,  the  habit  of  acting  with 
his  fellows  to  attain  his  political  ends,  are  a  second 
nature  to  every  American,  whether  native  or  naturalized. 
Political  independence  and  political  joint  action  are 
claimed  to  be  peculiarly  American.  Further  than  this, 
combination,  organization,  co-operation,  are  the  watch- 
words of  modern  progress  in  all  directions.  Whatever  a 
body  of  men,  having  a  common  interest,  desire  to  attain, 
they  combine  to  secure. 

Such  being  the  facts  it  would  seem  very  much  like 
opposing  the  inevitable  to  rail  at  Trades-Unions  or  to 
attempt  to  prevent  the  formation  of  labor  organizations, 


2     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

for  these  are  simply  one  manifestation  of  a  universal  law. 
Is  it  not  pre-eminently  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  men, 
who  have  been  appealed  to  year  after  year  to  form  a 
judgment  upon  all  public  questions,  and  to  take  part  in 
the  government  of  their  country,  that  is,  who  have  lived 
under  a  democratic  form  of  government,  should  submit 
to  an  autocratic  industrial  control,  which  is  a  matter  of 
far  more  vital  importance  to  them,  so  far  as  daily  happi- 
ness goes  ? 

Combinations  of  wage-earners,  in  some  form,  are  to  be 
expected,  and  must  be  accepted.  As  a  rule  these  com- 
binations are  beneficent ;  they  are  both  a  sign  and  a 
cause  of  moral  and  intellectual  progress ;  they  cannot  be 
prevented,  but  unwise  attempts  to  prevent  them  may,  for 
a  time,  divert  and  almost  destroy  their  power  for  good. 
It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  that  men  should  unite  to 
attain  their  common  ends,  and  the  kind  of  union  they 
form,  the  ends  which  they  seek,  and  the  means  adopted 
to  attain  those  ends,  are  matters  of  vital  importance  both 
to  themselves  and  to  the  public. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  these  points  are  all  far 
more  dependent  than  is  generally  recognized,  not  upon 
the  men  who  form  the  Unions,  but  upon  the  reaction 
upon  them  of  the  laws  under  which  they  live,  and  of  the 
attitude  of  their  employers  and  of  the  public  towards 
them. 

The  history  of  Trades-Unionism  in  England,  before 
1875,  and  since  that  time,  will  serve  to  show  the  truth  of 
this  statement.1 

1  The  quotations  in  this  chapter  are  from  The  Conflicts  of  Capital  and 
Labour,  by  George  Howell,  M.P.,  and  are  reprinted  by  permission  of 
Messrs.  Macmillan  &  Co. 


TRADES-UNIONS  AS  AFFECTED  BY  LAW.  3 

In  the  year  1800  a  law  was  passed  forbidding  all  asso- 
ciations of  workmen  established  for  any  and  all  purposes. 
The  result,  however,  was  not  what  had  been  expected. 
Speaking  of  this  law  Mr.  Howell  says  :  "  Secret  societies 
are  the  natural  result  of  repression ;  they  arise  out  of  a 
sense  of  injustice  and  oppression,  strengthened  by  the 
conviction  that  they  dare  not  publicly  discuss  their 
grievances,  real  or  imaginary,  and  that  the  government 
under  which  this  state  of  things  exists  is  opposed  to  the 
interests  of  those  who  compose  such  societies.  Secret 
combinations  are  incompatible  with  free  government,  and 
cannot  possibly  find  any  large  class  of  adherents  ;  but 
tyranny  and  oppression  will  always  produce  men  who 
will  not  be  deterred,  by  any  consideration  of  danger,  from 
combining  to  resist  what  they  deem  an  injustice. 

"  The  enactment  of  the  combination  laws,  therefore, 
did  not  prevent  combination,  but  tended  to  develop  it. 
In  1818,  a  common  workman  was  prosecuted  for  com- 
bining, and  bail  to  the  amount  of  £200  and  two  sureties  of 
,£100  each  were  required  for  his  appearance  at  the  next 
sessions  to  answer  the  charge ;  but  these  prosecutions 
did  not  deter  others  from  combining.  The  effects  of 
these  laws  were  such  that  the  people  in  their  despair 
were  led  to  commit  the  grossest  deeds  of  violence  and 
the  most  infamous  crimes,  in  what  they  considered  to  be 
self-defence.  The  whole  character  of  the  work-people 
had  so  deteriorated  that  they  regarded  with  little  aversion 
acts  which  were  not  only  vicious,  but  actually  criminal." 

Prosecutions  under  the  Combination  Laws  were 
frequent. 

"  The  history  of  these  prosecutions  and  contentions, 
and  the  consequent  privations  endured  by  the  workmen 


4     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

for  the  purpose  of  securing  their  independence,  is  a  real 
record  of  heroism ;  in  spite  of  oppression  the  most  crush- 
ing, of  legal  enactments  the  most  stringent,  of  punish- 
ments the  most  cruel,  for  any  infraction  of  these  Acts, 
the  men  continued  to  combine ;  they  contested  every 
inch  of  the  ground,  until,  after  a  struggle  of  centuries, 
they  were  now  on  the  threshold  of  victory,  partial  it  is 
true,  but  still  most  important,  viewed  by  the  light  of 
later  facts. 

"  These  fierce  contests  had  not  passed  altogether  unno- 
ticed, nor  had  the  prosecutions  of  the  workmen  by  their 
masters  been  wholly  unheeded  ;  a  few  men  in  Parliament, 
with  Joseph  Hume  at  their  head,  had  observed  their 
struggles  for  industrial  freedom,  and  in  the  year  1824 
they  moved  for  and  obtained  the  appointment  of  a  select 
committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  to  consider  the 
laws  relating  to  workmen  and  artisans.  .  .  . 

"  The  committee  sat,  took  evidence,  and  speedily  re- 
turned the  following  report  with  reference  to  these 
oppressive  laws : 

(1)  That  it  appears  by  the  evidence  before  the  committee,  that  combina- 
tions of  workmen  have  taken  place  in  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland, 
often  to  a  great  extent,  to  raise  and  keep  up  their  wages,  to  regulate  their 
hours  of  working,  and  to  impose  restrictions  on  their  masters  respecting 
apprentices  or  others  whom  they  might  think  proper  to  employ  ;  and  that  at 
the  time  the  evidence  was  taken,  combinations  were  in  existence,  attended 
with  strikes  and  suspension  of  work  ;  and  the  laws  have  not  hitherto  been 
effectual  to  prevent  such  combinations. 

(2)  That  serious  breaches  of  the  peace  and  acts  of  violence  with  strikes 
of  the  workmen,  often  for  very  long  periods,  have  taken  place  in  conse- 
quence of  and  arising  out  of  the  combinations  of  workmen,  and  have  been 
attended  with  loss  to  both  masters  and  workmen,  and  with  considerable  in- 
convenience and  injury  to  the  community. 

(3)  That  the  masters  have  often  combined  to  lower  the  rates  of  their 
workmen's  wages,  as  well  to  resist  a  demand  for  an  increase  and  to  regulate 


TRADES-UNIONS  AS  AFFECTED  BY  LAW.  5 

their  hours  of  working,  and  sometimes  to  discharge  their  workmen  who 
would  not  consent  to  the  conditions  offered  to  them,  which  have  been  fol- 
lowed by  suspension  of  work,  riotous  proceedings,  and  acts  of  violence. 

(4)  That  prosecutions  have  frequently  been  carried  on  under  the  statute 
and  common  law  against  the  workmen,  and  many  of  them  have  suffered  dif- 
ferent periods  of  imprisonment  for  combining  and  conspiring  to  raise  their 
wages,  or  to  resist  their  reduction,  and  to  regulate  their  hours  of  working. 

(5)  That  several  instances  have  been  stated  to  the  committee  of  prosecu- 
tions against  masters  for  combining  to  lower  wages,  and  to  regulate  the 
hours  of  working  ;  but  no  instance  has  been  adduced  of  any  master  having 
been  punished  for  that  offence. 

(6)  That  the  laws  have  not  only  not  been  efficient  to  prevent  combina- 
tions either  of  masters  or  workmen,  but,  on  the  contrary,  have,  in  the  opin- 
ion of  many  of  both  parties,  had  a  tendency  to  produce  mutual  irritation 
and  distrust,  and  to  give  a  violent  character  to  the  combinations,  and  to  ren- 
der them  highly  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the  community. 

(7)  That  it  is  the  opinion  of  this  committee  that  masters  and  workmen 
should  be  freed  from  such  restrictions  as  regards  the  rate  of  wages  and  hours 
of  working,  and  left  at  perfect  liberty  to  make  such  agreements  as  they  may 
mutually  think  proper. 

(8)  That  therefore  the  statute  laws  that  interfere  in  this  particular  should 
be  repealed  ;  and  also  the  common  law  under  which  a  peaceable  meeting  of 
masters  or  workmen  may  be  prosecuted  as  a  conspiracy,  should  be  altered. 

(9)  That  the  committee  regret  to  find  from  the  evidence  that  societies, 
legally  enrolled  as  benefit  societies,  have  been  frequently  made  the  cloak 
under  which  funds  have  been  raised  for  the  support  of  combinations  and 
strikes  attended  with  acts  of  violence  or  intimidation  ;  and  without  recom- 
mending any  specific  course,  they  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  the  House  to 
the  frequent  perversion  of  these  institutions  from  their  avowed  and  legiti- 
mate objects. 

(10)  That  the  practice  of  settling  disputes  by  arbitration  between  masters 
and  workmen  has  been  attended  with  good  effects  ;  and  it  is  desirable  that 
the  laws  which   direct  and    regulate   arbitration  should   be    consolidated, 
amended,  and  made  applicable  to  all  trades. 

(n)  That  it  is  absolutely  necessary,  when  repealing  the  combination 
laws,  to  enact  such  a  law  as  may  efficiently,  and  by  summary  process,  punish 
either  workmen  or  masters  who  by  threat,  intimidation,  or  acts  of  violence, 
should  interfere  with  the  perfect  freedom  which  ought  to  be  allowed  to  each 
party  of  employing  his  labour  or  capital  in  the  manner  he  may  deem  most 
advantageous." 


6     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

All  the  statutes  against  combinations  of  workmen  were 
repealed  in  consequence  of  this  report,  and  more  moderate 
laws  passed,  but  under  the  common  law  prosecutions  were 
still  frequent,  and  constant  conflicts  between  workmen 
and  their  employers,  long  and  severe  strikes,  and  great 
bitterness  of  feeling  continued,  and  there  were  select  com- 
mittees of  the  House  of  Commons  appointed  from  time 
to  time  to  inquire  into  the  various  phases  of  the  matter. 

Of  troubles  occurring  in  1848  Mr.  Howell  says:  "  These 
and  other  prosecutions  and  convictions  produced  a  good 
deal  of  irritation  and  agitation,  and  ultimately  resulted  in 
making  the  Unions  much  more  numerous  and  powerful 
than  they  had  ever  been  before."  Of  strikes  in  1852-53- 
54-55  he  says:  "  These  oft-recurring  disputes,  with  their 
attendant  prosecutions  and  consequent  agitation,  tended 
materially  to  the  development  of  the  Unions,  and  to  their 
growth,  both  in  number  and  wealth,  and  then  serious 
questions  began  to  arise  as  to  the  safety  of  their  funds." 

In  1867  a  Royal  Commission  was  appointed  to  inquire 
into  alleged  outrages  in  Sheffield,  Nottingham,  and  Man- 
chester, "  and  also  into  the  organization,  rules,  operations, 
and  conduct  of  trade  societies,  and  the  laws  under  which 
they  were  governed.  The  investigation  was  searching  and 
complete;  the  result  is  embodied  in  sixteen  volumes  of 
reports ;  the  ordeal  was  a  severe  one,  but  the  Unions,  as 
a  whole,  came  out  of  it  without  a  stain. 

"  Instead  of  a  law  to  suppress  the  Unions,  as  many  had 
hoped,  the  inquiry  into  their  organization  and  rules  even- 
tuated first  of  all  in  a  Temporary  Act,  protecting  their 
funds,  in  1869,  and  then  in  the  Trades-Union  Act,  1871, 
which  sanctioned  their  objects,  and  legalized  their 
action." 


TRADES-UNIONS  AS  AFFECTED  BY  LAW.  J 

After  this  time  "  the  agitation  for  the  total  repeal  of  all 
the  penal  laws  affecting  labour  became  more  and  more 
intensified  and  persistent ;  the  action  for  securing  this  end 
was  constitutional  and  methodical ;  the  public  mind  was 
educated  by  meetings,  lectures,  publications,  annual  con- 
gresses, deputations  to  ministers,  and  interviews  with 
members  of  Parliament,  and  by  debates,  bills,  and  petitions, 
until  at  last  a  Conservative  Government,  in  1875,  after  a 
slight  show  of  resistance,  with  the  excuse  and  help  af- 
forded by  the  report  of  another  Royal  Commission, 
granted  the  workmen's  demands. 

"  The  history  of  the  struggle  to  secure  this  great  victory 
is  not  so  well  known  as  it  might  and  should  be  ;  it  conveys 
an  object  lesson  replete  with  interest  to  workmen,  em- 
ployers, the  legislature,  and  the  general  public ;  above  all, 
it  ought  to  teach  the  law-makers  that  repressive  laws  are 
ineffectual,  as  well  as  dangerous  and  oppressive;  that 
their  effect  is  demoralizing  on  the  mind  ;  and  that  men's 
ideas  of  right  and  wrong  become  confounded,  until  a  sense 
of  injustice  brings  about  the  worst  evils  of  violence,  even 
to  ferocity.  '  Men  who  know  that  they  are  criminals,  by 
the  mere  reason  of  the  object  which  they  have  in  view, 
care  little  for  the  additional  criminality  involved  in  the 
means  they  adopt.'  The  value  of  the  lesson  to  workmen 
is  not  a  whit  less  important  than  to  others ;  if  they  study 
the  labour  question  aright,  they  will  perceive  and  under- 
stand the  wisdom  of  moderation  in  all  their  demands ; 
that  the  duty  which  they  owe  to  the  State,  of  which  they 
are  component  members,  is  to  pursue  their  objects  peace- 
ably, and  in  a  constitutional  manner ;  and  furthermore, 
that  sooner  or  later,  if  the  claims  put  forward  are  reason- 
able and  just,  they  will  be  granted  by  the  legislature. 


8      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

With  their  present  political  power,  if  it  be  wisely  used 
and  directed,  no  demand,  if  based  on  justice,  can  long  be 
refused;  but  those  who  denounce  the  injustice  of  others, 
must  be  careful  not  to  incur  a  like  condemnation,  by 
reason  of  their  own  departure  from  the  principles  of  equity. 
Moreover,  in  this  case,  as  indeed  it  might  be  said  to  be  in 
all  cases,  it  is  politic  to  be  just.  Retribution,  in  some  form 
or  another,  is  sure  to  follow  any  departure  from  the  princi- 
ples of  truth  and  justice  ;  sometimes  it  is  swift  and  sudden, 
at  other  times  slow  and  deferred,  but  it  is  certain,  sure, 
and  inevitable. 

"  .  .  .  The  first  essential  principle  of  the  ex- 
istence of  a  Trades-Union  is  that  it  shall  be  purely  volun- 
tary— upon  no  other  basis  could  it  legally  or  possibly 
exist.  A  man  must  have  perfect  liberty  either  to  join  or 
refrain  from  joining  such  society,  according  to  his  taste 
or  inclination,  and  no  justification  can  be  offered  for  any 
attempt  to  violate  this  first  condition  of  membership. 
Instances  frequently  occur  in  which  a  certain  amount  of 
social  pressure  is  used  in  order  to  bring  men  into  the 
Union,  but  they  are  rather  exceptional ;  and  usually  they 
are  not  effective,  for  workmen  like  others  resent  any  kind 
of  personal  dictation,  and  if  they  do  yield  to  its  influence 
it  is  only  for  a  time,  until  an  opportunity  for  repudiation 
occurs.  Coercion  is  not  only  a  violation  of  law,  but  it  is 
also  contrary  to  morals  ;  the  law  is  jealous  of  any  interfer- 
ence with  the  personal  liberty  of  the  subject,  and  rightly  so, 
for  absolute  freedom  is  the  right  of  every  citizen  in  a  free 
State.  It  is  equally  wrong  for  an  employer  to  attempt  to 
interfere  with  the  freedom  of  the  workmen,  with  the  in- 
tention of  preventing  them  from  joining  a  Union  if  they 
think  fit  to  do  so.  Neither  the  employer  nor  the  work- 


TRADES-UNIONS  AS  AFFECTED  BY  LAW.  9 

man  has  the  right  to  fetter  the  free  action  of  any  other 
person  in  this  matter,  or  to  force  him  to  do,  or  abstain 
from  doing,  that  which  he  thinks  best  for  himself. 

"...  The  legislation  of  1875  has  produced  the 
happiest  results  in  the  interests  of  law  and  order ;  for  a 
good  deal  of  the  irritation  of  the  past  was  caused  by  the 
repressive  laws  by  which  workmen  were  tried  and  pun- 
ished. They  have  been  in  operation  for  fifteen  years; 
notwithstanding  their  leniency  as  compared  with  former 
laws,  the  prosecutions  have  been  but  few,  and  the  need 
for  such  prosecutions  is  daily  diminishing,  and  will  dimin- 
ish year  by  year.  The  history  of  the  operation  of  repressive 
enactments  supplies  a  lesson  which  masters  and  workmen 
may  study  with  advantage,  and  which  it  is  the  duty  of 
both  to  learn. 

"  .  .  .  It  is  the  duty  of  the  law  to  protect  all  alike, 
and  to  punish  those  who  attempt  to  interfere  with  the 
personal  liberty  of  another,  whether  by  threats,  coercion, 
intimidation,  personal  violence,  or  other  overt  action,  and 
no  mercy  should  be  shown  to  those  who  are  guilty  of  such 
offences.  The  law  should  be  equal  for  all,  and  universal 
in  its  application  and  enforcement,  without  regard  to 
person,  position,  or  class.  In  all  its  main  provisions  such 
is  the  *  Conspiracy  and  Protection  of  Property  Act,  1875,' 
for  which  reason  it  should  be  upheld  and  obeyed  by  all 
classes  of  workmen,  both  in  and  out  of  the  Union.  .  .  ." 

We  have  here  a  short  sketch  of  the  effect  of  law  upon 
the  development  and  character  of  Trades-Unions  in  Eng- 
land, where  they  have  reached  their  greatest  usefulness 
after  passing  through  seasons  of  bitter  and  violent  feeling 
and  action,  and  it  may  be  said,  without  fear  of  contradic- 
tion, that  all  classes  in  England  now  recognize  their  value. 


10     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

One  of  the  legislative  committees  appointed  within  a  few 
years  to  consider  questions  relating  to  labor,  "  The 
Sweating  System  Committee "  of  the  House  of  Lords 
(1890),  made  the  following  suggestion :  "  With  respect  to 
the  low  wages  and  excessive  hours  of  labour,  we  think 
that  good  may  be  effected  by  the  extension  of  co-opera- 
tive Societies,  and  by  well  considered  combination  amongst 
the  workers." 

Mr.  Henry  Crompton,  of  London  (in  his  work  on  In- 
dustrial Conciliation,  18/6),  gives  a  history  of  one  of  the 
best  results  of  Trades-Unionism,  the  attainment  of  peace 
between  employers  and  employees,  and  I  shall  with  his 
permission  give  my  readers  the  benefit  of  full  extracts 
from  his  most  interesting  book. 


CHAPTER  II. 
THE  INDUSTRIAL  SITUATION. 

i8;6. 

FROM    "  INDUSTRIAL    CONCILIATION  "    BY   HENRY   CROMPTON,    OF  LONDON. 

.  .  .  WE  live  in  an  age  of  vast  and  momentous  change, 
characterized  as  a  period  of  transition,  as  a  passage  from  an 
old  to  a  new  order.  The  industrial  movement  is  not  sep- 
arate or  distinct  from  the  other  parts  of  human  progress. 
Industry  is  but  one  aspect  of  social  life,  and  cannot  be 
separated  from  other  aspects,  intellectual,  moral,  or  politi- 
cal. When  the  public  mind  grasps  a  new  political  idea 
or  seizes  upon  some  lofty  moral  aspiration,  it  is  not  lim- 
ited by  the  circumstances  to  which  perhaps  it  may  owe  its 
origin,  but  penetrates  to  all  the  actions  and  desires  of 
man.  When  the  Radical  manufacturers  preached  politi- 
cal change  to  the  working  classes,  and  set  up  before  them 
political  independence  as  a  goal  to  strive  for,  they  ought 
not  to  have  been  surprised  to  find  that  the  ideas  they  had 
taught  with  reference  to  the  outer  civic  actions  were  at 
once  applied  to  the  inner  industrial  life.  The  feudal  sys- 
tem was  an  industrial  as  well  as  a  political  subjection.  If 
the  right  aspiration  for  every  citizen  is  to  be  independent 
and  free,  that  is,  not  subject  to  arbitrary  power  but  depen- 
dent only  upon  just  laws,  the  same  aspiration  must  inevit- 
ably appear  right  to  him  in  his  capacity  of  workman.  The 

ii 


12      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

political  cry  for  Reform  was  equally  a  cry  for  a  new 
industrial  rule. 

.  .  .  We  may  well  look  back  to  the  beginning  of 
this  long  struggle  by  labour  to  achieve  freedom,  and  com- 
pare the  condition  of  the  working  classes  in  the  past  to 
that  of  workmen  in  the  best  modern  employment,  where 
each  man's  freedom  is  assured,  and  the  fullest  respect  paid 
to  the  worth  and  dignity  of  labour.  Such  a  contrast  is  no 
less  than  that  between  the  slave  and  the  free  citizen.  The 
independence  of  the  working  classes  does  not  constitute 
the  industrial  progress,  but  it  is  a  prime  factor  in  that  pro- 
gress. The  obstinate  refusal  to  acknowledge  and  accept 
this  fact  can  only  bring  about  in  the  future  a  renewal  of 
the  deadly  struggle  which  has  taken  place  in  the  past,  and 
is  therefore  to  be  condemned,  as  conduct  contrary  to  the 
interests  of  mankind.  A  superficial  view  of  the  industrial 
battle-field  might  lead  any  one  to  believe  that  war  on  a 
larger  scale  than  ever  was  now  imminent  between  capital 
and  labour.  On  each  side  are  massed  larger  forces,  arrayed 
for  war,  and  ever  increasing  in  numbers,  in  material  re- 
sources, in  skilful  leadership,  and  in  organization  ;  on  each 
side  all  minor  causes  of  dissension  and  disunion  are  put 
aside,  such  as  individual  interests  and  personal  animosi- 
ties, that  a  united  front  may  be  presented  to  the  common 
foe.  But  this  would  be  a  false  and  delusive  picture — the 
dark  side  only.  The  bright  side  is  very  different,  full  of 
hope  and  full  of  promise.  This  it  is  I  wish  to  paint. 

Increased  organization,  whether  of  masters  or  men,  or 
of  both,  means  decreased  war.  Though  more  noticed, 
strikes  occur  less  frequently.  When  there  is  a  strike  or  a 
lock-out,  though  the  area  is  greater,  the  contest  is  less 
bitter  and  intense.  Moral  and  intellectual  pressure  has  a 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   SITUATION.  13 

greater  coercive  effect  upon  both  sides.  More  attention 
is  paid  by  each  side  to  the  views  of  the  other.  There  is 
far  more  restraint.  Wiser  and  more  prudent  counsels 
tend  to  prevail.  The  strike  or  the  lock-out  has  less  of 
the  character  of  war  to  the  death.  Each  side  presents 
less  of  the  stiff-necked,  dogged  resolve  to  yield  nothing, 
but  fight  it  out  to  the  bitter  end.  If  we  take  a  typical  in- 
stance of  a  struggle  of  twenty-five  years  ago,  the  lock-out 
of  the  engineers  in  1852,  we  find  it  beginning  with  an  ul- 
timatum or  declaration  of  war  by  the  Union,  wrong  in 
form,  even  had  the  object  been  right,  and  calculated  to 
irritate  and  inflame  the  employers.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  employers  entered  upon  the  contest  with  the  formid- 
able announcement  that  they  would  utterly  destroy  the 
great  institution,  which  the  men  rightly  regarded  as  the 
means  of  their  safety  and  strength.  Refusing  all  offers  of 
compromise,  the  employers  would  only  accept  the  com- 
plete and  abject  submission  of  the  men.  They  had  to 
choose  between  starvation  or  desertion  of  their  Union. 
They  were  forced  to  promise  to  break  faith  with  their 
Union ;  and  in  the  end  they  broke  their  promise  and  not 
their  faith.  It  was  a  fierce  and  ungenerous  triumph  by 
the  employers,  but  a  fruitless  victory,  as  far  as  the  de- 
struction of  the  Union  was  concerned.  For  the  Society 
of  Amalgamated  Engineers,  instead  of  being  destroyed, 
acquired  fresh  strength  and  has  prospered  ever  since ; 
proving  that  the  power  of  combination  can  withstand  the 
most  crushing  defeat. 

There  has  in  truth  been  a  great  intellectual  and  moral 
progress  among  employers  and  employed.  Doubtless, 
there  are  parts  of  England  and  certain  trades  in  which 
the  relations  between  the  employers  and  employed  are  as 


14     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

bad  now  as  was  ever  the  case.  There  are  trades  in  which 
the  most  brutal  savagery  is  still  the  rule.  This  is  the 
blackest  part  of  the  dark  side  ;  but  the  bright,  if  slowly, 
is  surely  gaining  upon  it.  None  of  the  leaders  of  the 
workmen  have  ever  desired  that  there  should  be  any  re- 
laxation of  the  law  dealing  with  real  crimes.  The  agita- 
tion for  the  abolition  of  the  unjust  laws  which  have  lately 
been  repealed  has  not  been  disadvantageous  to  the  work- 
ing classes.  Questions  of  personal  interference,  of  crimi- 
nal and  moral  responsibility,  have  been  brought  vividly 
before  them.  They  have  been  thus  made  to  see  the 
necessity  and  advantage  of  having  to  justify  their  actions 
in  the  full  light  of  public  opinion.  The  passing  of  the 
recent  Labour  Laws,  recognizing  the  complete  legal  inde- 
pendence of  the  working  classes,  has  come  at  an  oppor- 
tune time.  Industrial  independence  must  follow.  A 
strong  current  has  set  in  from  the  old  towards  the  new 
order.  Everything  tends  in  that  direction,  whether  we 
look  to  the  attitude  of  the  employers  to  the  employed,  of 
the  employed  to  the  employers,  or  whether  we  look  to 
the  moral  and  intellectual  change  in  public  opinion  on 
these  industrial  questions.  The  time  has  in  fact  arrived 
for  a  new  departure,  or  rather  for  fresh  efforts  in  that  di- 
rection which  has  proved  to  be  right.  The  central  fact, 
the  focus  of  light  is,  the  success  of  the  Boards  of  Concili- 
ation. The  last  ten  years  have  been  their  time  of  trial, 
and  the  results  of  the  system  are  more  satisfactory  than 
its  promoters  had  dared  to  prophesy.  Wishing  to  show 
the  real  progress  that  is  taking  place  in  industry,  I  am 
forced  by  the  logic  of  facts  to  group  what  I  have  to  say 
round  this  system  of  conciliation. 


THE  INDUSTRIAL   SITUATION.  15 

The  practical  success  which  has  attended  the  establish- 
ment of  most  of  the  Boards  of  Arbitration  and  Concilia- 
tion is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  employers  have  really 
accepted  the  independence  of  the  men — that  is,  they  have 
accepted  the  Trades-Unions,  which  the  men  rightly  re- 
gard as  the  secret  of  their  strength.  To  pretend  that 
their  independence  is  assured  when  each  workman  con- 
tracts individually  with  his  employer  and  their  collective 
wishes  and  actions  are  disregarded,  is  too  transparent  a 
fallacy  to  need  discussion.  As  if  men  could  be  indepen- 
dent when  their  strength  was  paralysed,  or  when  they  were 
deprived  of  habitual  association  and  co-operation  in  their 
common  purposes.  Complete  independence  involves  a 
recognition  by  the  employers  of  the  Trades-Unions,  and 
this  is  better  done  and  more  permanently  assured  by  a 
Board  of  Conciliation.  Whatever  difficulties  there  may 
be  in  the  application  of  systematic  conciliation  to  some 
trades,  this  much  is  shown — that  where  it  has  been  suc- 
cessfully applied,  it  is  not  only  capable  of  diminishing  the 
shock  of  the  opposing  forces,  but  apparently  of  actually 
reconciling  capital  and  labour.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  III. 

ARBITRATION    IN    ENGLAND. 
1860-1876. 

FROM    "  INDUSTRIAL    CONCILIATION  "   BY   HENRY   CROMPTON,    OF  LONDON. 

.  .  .  THROUGHOUT  the  century  disputes  have  been 
settled  between  employers  and  employed  by  resort 
to  arbitration ;  and  in  some  trades — as,  for  example, 
in  the  pottery  trade — the  practice  arose  of  inserting 
an  arbitration  clause  in  labour  contracts.  About  1850 
the  principle  of  arbitration  was  advocated  as  the  best 
means  of  insuring  peace  between  capital  and  labour. 
But  it  was  not,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  until  1860  that  any 
permanent  system  or  Board  of  Arbitration  came  into 
actual  operation.  The  two  men  who  have  been  most 
instrumental  in  this  work,  and  whose  names  will  long 
be  remembered  in  connection  with  this  movement, 
are  Mr.  Mundella  and  Mr.  Rupert  Kettle.  Mr.  Kettle, 
a  lawyer  and  judge,  naturally  approached  the  subject 
from  a  legal  point  of  view.  Mr.  Mundella,  a  manufa- 
turer,  and  himself  sprung  from  the  working  classes,  went 
straight  to  the  practical  and  moral  end  implied  by  the 
word  conciliation.  If  his  route  to  the  right  result  was 
more  direct,  Mr.  Kettle's  was  of  even  greater  experimental 
value,  constituting  an  experience  that  could  not  well  be 
dispensed  with.  It  is  very  satisfactory  to  find  that  both 

16 


ARBITRATION  IN  ENGLAND.  \J 

routes  of  this  noble  emulation  converge,  each  affording 
strength  to  the  common  conclusions.  Mr.  Kettle's  scheme 
was  based  on  a  simple,  yet  admirable,  application  of  the 
principles  of  the  common  law.  A  code  of  working  rules 
was  drawn  up  by  the  representatives  of  employers  and 
employed.  These  rules  were  posted  up  in  the  workshops, 
and  a  copy  was  given  to  every  workman  engaged.  The 
working  rules  thus  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  parties  be- 
came a  contract  binding  between  each  employer  and  every 
workman  he  engaged,  which  could  be  enforced  at  law. 
But  it  was  very  soon  found,  in  confirmation  of  Mr.  Mun- 
della's  view,  that  the  real  difficulties  were  not  relative  to 
past,  but  to  future  prices  and  arrangements.  Mr.  Kettle 
says  that  "  differences  upon  the  terms  of  a  future  contract, 
arising  from  the  difficulty  of  foreseeing  the  future  rate  of 
wages,"  are  most  liable  to  lead  to  disputes.  Mr.  Mundella 
says :  "  If  we  had  only  to  discuss  quarrels  that  have  arisen 
about  the  past  state  of  prices  we  should  have  almost  noth- 
ing to  do,  because  it  is  rarely  that  there  is  any  dispute 
what  shall  be  the  rate  this  week,  but  the  dispute  is,  what 
shall  be  the  rate  next  week."  It  was  soon  evident  that  a 
legal  system  of  adjudication  was  limited  by  the  shortness 
of  the  notice  to  which  the  actual  contract  was  invariably 
subject.  However  valuable  these  contracts  or  codes  of 
working  rules  may  be,  their  value  is  impaired  and  lessened 
when,  as  is  the  case  in  the  building  trades,  each  side  can 
put  an  end  to  the  contract  at  any  moment,  without  notice, 
or  with  very  short  notice.  Moreover,  such  a  plan  was  too 
cumbrous  for  the  rapid  adjustment  of  small  differences.  It 
became,  therefore,  necessary  to  introduce  a  rule  for  con- 
ciliation. A  sub-committee,  or  smaller  body  of  employers 
and  employed,  was  appointed  to  meet  oftener  and  deal 


1 8     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

with  the  smaller  matters  as  they  arose.  This,  which  was 
first  looked  upon  as  subsidiary,  gradually  assumed  greater 
prominence,  and  has  now  become  the  really  essential  and 
vital  part  of  the  system.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
the  condition  of  all  systems  of  arbitration  being  perma- 
nently successful  is,  that  full  prominence  should  be  given 
to  this  feature  of  conciliation  by  a  small  committee.  Mr. 
Kettle  admits  that  "  a  union  of  conciliation  and  arbitration 
would  not  be  inconsistent.  An  Arbitration  Court  did,  in 
fact,  include  conciliation,  and  so  much  was  this  true  that 
sixteen  out  of  twenty  cases  were  settled  by  conciliation." 
But  he  still  adheres  to  the  opinion  that  the  legal  form  and 
aspect  of  arbitration  is  the  best.  The  difference  between 
Mr.  Kettle's  view  and  Mr.  Mundella's  is  well  expressed  by 
the  words  sometimes  used  to  designate  their  respective 
systems,  namely,  "an  Arbitration  Court"  and  "  a  Board 
of  Conciliation."  Mr.  Kettle  thinks  that  an  umpire  is  re- 
quired to  act  as  judge  between  the  parties,  that  "an  arbi- 
trator would  be  able  to  keep  before  the  disputants  those 
great  and  fundamental  rules  of  commercial  economy  by 
which  service  contracts  are  ultimately  governed,"  and  that 
"  an  arbitrator  undisturbed  by  the  emotions  of  the  conflict 
would  apply  them  to  the  facts  before  him."  This  is  arbi- 
tration by  a  Court,  not  by  a  Board.  The  umpire  presides 
over  the  investigation  ;  two  arbitrators  are  appointed  by 
the  employers,  and  two  by  the  men.  These  four  are  a 
kind  of  jury.  If  they  cannot  agree,  the  umpire  has  to 
make  his  award.  Such  a  plan  is  very  desirable  where 
there  is  antagonism  and  suspicion  existing  between  mas- 
ters and  men.  The  presence  of  an  umpire  must  exercise 
a  salutary  restraint  over  both  sides,  and  such  arbitrations 
must  necessarily  have  a  great  effect  in  carrying  out  the 


ARBITRA  TION  IN  ENGLAND.  \g 

object  aimed  at — namely,  the  peaceful  settlement  of  these 
burning  questions.  There  are  trades  now  where  any  other 
mode  would  be  impossible.  Probably  no  other  plan  is  so 
well  adapted  to  the  putting  an  end  to  a  strike  or  lock-out. 
It  must  be  admitted  that  Mr.  Kettle,  in  elaborating 
this  system,  and  himself  successfully  undertaking  the 
difficult  office  of  umpire,  has  done  a  work  the  importance 
of  which  cannot  be  overestimated.  But  its  uses  are  tem- 
porary and  provisional.  No  institution  can  be  permanent 
which  contemplates  a  continuous  and  lasting  opposition 
between  labour  and  capital.  The  same  may  be  said  of 
the  Trades-Unions,  which  have  been  well  described  as 
"  armed  peace  "  ;  but  then  they  have  other  functions  be- 
sides that  of  resisting  and  opposing  employers,  and  they 
are  capable  of  being  modified  and  transformed  for  the 
better  carrying  out  of  useful  and  social  purposes,  as  the 
present  antagonism  between  capital  and  labour  diminishes 
and  dies  away.  So,  too,  with  Boards  of  Conciliation, 
which  have  already  shown  that  they  are  capable  of  being 
employed  to  promote  industrial  progress,  apart  from  the 
more  special  object  with  which  they  were  originally 
established. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

CONCILIATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

1860-1876. 

FROM    "  INDUSTRIAL   CONCILIATION,"   BY    HENRY    CROMPTON,    OF   LONDON. 

.  .  .  THE  development  of  arbitration  and  concilia- 
tion in  industry  is  characterized  by  the  increasing  promi- 
nence of  conciliation ;  whereas  arbitration,  though  a 
necessary,  tends  to  become  a  less  and  less  important, 
feature.  Mr.  Mundella  must  be  regarded  as  the  inventor 
of  systematic  industrial  conciliation.  The  first  Board 
was  started  in  his  own  trade  of  hosiery  in  the  year  1860. 
Prior  to  that  time  the  history  of  the  relations  between 
employers  and  employed  in  the  trade  is  that  of  war.  If 
the  worst  aspects  of  this  war,  the  terrible  riots,  the  mur- 
ders, arsons,  and  machine-breakings  of  the  early  part  of 
the  century,  had  disappeared,  there  was  still  hatred  and 
suspicion  by  the  operatives  towards  their  masters,  who, 
in  their  turn,  entertained  feelings  of  animosity  against 
the  men.  Mr.  Mundella  admits  that,  "  In  times  of  de- 
pression a  manufacturer  pressed  down  the  workmen  as 
low  as  he  possibly  could,  and  the  less  conscience  he  had 
of  course  the  more  he  pressed  down  the  workmen  ;  and 
when  the  time  for  an  advance  came,  or  better  trade, 
although  the  natural  demand  for  labour  would  sometimes 
force  up  wages  a  little,  yet  it  was  always  resisted  as  much 

20 


CONCILIATION  IN  ENGLAND.  21 

as  possible.  The  men  sent  deputations  from  Trades- 
Unions  round  to  the  hosiers'  warehouses.  At  one  ware- 
house they  would  be  told  to  walk  downstairs,  the  masters 
would  not  acknowledge  Trades-Unions.  At  another  they 
would  be  told  :  '  Well,  we  shall  wait  till  we  see  what  our 
neighbours  do.'  After  going  round  to  the  different  firms 
and  being  received  in  that  way,  the  chances  are  that  the 
men  would  go  home  and  strike,  and  it  would  depend  on 
circumstances  how  long  they  could  keep  out.  They 
would,  perhaps,  ask  for  more  than  was  the  natural  rate, 
more  than  the  trade  could  fairly  give.  It  was  simply 
starving  out  the  manufacturer  or  the  workmen  till  a 
compromise  was  effected." 

In  1860  there  were  three  strikes  in  one  branch  of  the 
trade,  one  of  which  lasted  eleven  weeks.  The  manufac- 
turers met  together  to  consider  what  they  should  do  in 
their  defence.  A  general  lock-out  was  proposed,  but  this 
meant  the  turning  a  large  population  into  the  streets. 
They  shrank  from  such  a  step.  Wisely  and  nobly  they 
resolved  to  try  a  better  alternative  ;  after  some  consider- 
ation a  handbill  was  issued,  inviting  a  conference  between 
masters  and  men  to  see  if  a  peaceable  issue  might  not  be 
found  to  the  dispute,  which  was  one  of  wages.  "  Three 
of  us,"  says  Mr.  Mundella,  "  met  a  dozen  leaders  of  the 
Trades-Unions.  We  consulted  with  these  men,  and  told 
them  that  the  present  plan  was  a  bad  one,  that  they  took 
every  advantage  of  us  when  we  had  a  demand,  and  we 
took  every  advantage  of  them  when  trade  was  bad,  and 
it  was  a  system  mutually  predatory.  Well,  the  men  were 
very  suspicious  at  first ;  indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  describe 
to  you  how  suspiciously  we  looked  at  each  other.  Some 
of  the  manufacturers  also  deprecated  our  proceedings, 


22     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

and  said  that  we  were  degrading  them.  However,  we 
had  some  ideas  of  our  own,  and  we  went  on  with  them, 
and  we  sketched  out  what  we  called  a  '  Board  of  Arbitra- 
tion and  Conciliation.' "  They  agreed  to  refer  all  questions 
in  dispute  to  the  Board ;  that  the  Board  should  be  com- 
posed of  an  equal  number  of  manufacturers  and  workmen, 
both  to  be  chosen  annually  by  their  respective  bodies. 
"  When  we  came  to  make  our  rules  it  was  agreed  that  the 
chairman  should  be  elected  by  the  meeting,  and  should 
have  a  vote,  and  a  casting  vote  when  necessary.  I  was 
chosen  the  chairman  in  the  first  instance,  and  I  have  been 
the  chairman  ever  since.  I  have  a  casting  vote,  and  twice 
that  casting  vote  has  got  us  into  trouble,  and  for  the 
last  four  years  it  has  been  resolved  that  we  would  not 
vote  at  all.  Even  when  a  working-man  was  convinced, 
or  a  master  convinced,  he  did  not  like  acting  against  his 
own  order,  and  in  some  instances  we  had  secessions  in 
consequence  of  that ;  so  we  said,  '  Do  not  let  us  vote 
again ;  let  us  try  if  we  can  agree/  And  we  did  agree." 
Although  the  rules  of  the  Board  still  give  the  chairman  a 
casting  vote,  it  is  never  used.  The  chairman  is  always  an 
employer,  and  it  is  thought  undesirable  that  where  there 
is  an  equal  vote  the  decision  should  be  given  by  an  em- 
ployer. The  Board  has  consequently  come  to  the  deter- 
mination that  in  such  an  event  there  shall  be  a  reference 
to  some  arbitrator  to  be  appointed  for  the  occasion. 
There  would  be  no  objection  on  the  part  of  the  Board  to 
a  permanent  referee,  so  long  as  he  was  acquainted  with 
the  trade ;  but  there  is  a  very  strong  feeling  against  a 
stranger  referee,  as  the  questions  must  depend  to  a  great 
extent  on  the  judgment  formed  of  foreign  goods,  and  the 
probable  effect  of  foreign  competition  on  the  trade.  The 


CONCILIA  TION  IN  ENGLAND.  2$ 

proceedings  of  the  Board  are  very  informal,  not  like  a 
court,  but  the  masters  and  men  sit  round  a  table,  the 
men  interspersed  with  the  masters.  Each  side  has  its 
secretary.  The  proceedings  are  without  ceremony,  and 
the  matter  is  settled  by  what  the  men  call  "  a  long  jaw," 
discussion  and  explanation  of  views,  in  which  the  men 
convince  the  masters  as  often  as  the  masters  the  men. 
Of  course  this  does  not  mean  that  every  member  of  the 
Board  is  always  convinced,  though  it  seems  that  even  this 
is  very  often  the  case,  but  when  they  are  not  they  are  con- 
tent to  compromise.  They  know  the  fatal  consequences 
of  disagreement.  They  agree  by  coming  to  the  best 
arrangement  possible  under  the  circumstances.  It  is,  in 
fact,  conciliation,  and  is  far  better  than  the  decision  of  a 
court  or  of  an  umpire.  The  "  long  jaw,"  ending  in  agree- 
ment, may  take  a  longer  time,  but  is  the  true  practical 
way  out  of  the  difficulty. 

In  the  hosiery  trade  all  employment  is  by  piece-work. 
.  .  .  Wherever  the  nature  of  the  work  admits  of  em- 
ployment by  piece-work,  the  system  requires  to  be  prop- 
erly  regulated  or  it  will  work  injustice.  It  is  not  true 
that  the  Unions  desire  to  fix  a  maximum  wage  or  price, 
and  allow  no  one  to  earn  more.  This  is  not  true  ;  but  they 
do  aim  at  fixing  a  minimum,  below  which  the  wages, 
whether  measured  by  time  or  by  the  piece,  shall  not  fall. 
The  Unions  are  guilds  of  skilled  men,  and  they  look  with 
natural  jealousy  on  a  properly  qualified  artist  taking  less 
than  his  services  are  worth.  So  they  often  fix  a  minimum 
or  limit,  though  this  is  hardly  so  fixed  and  unchangeable 
a  limit  as  the  guinea  fee  of  the  barrister  or  physician. 
The  condition  of  a  fair  system  of  remuneration  by  piece- 
work is  some  plan  for  giving  temporary  fixity  to  the  price 


24     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

of  the  piece,  or  else  some  system  by  which,  when  any 
alteration  is  necessary,  the  change  can  be  adjusted  accord- 
ing to  some  known  and  fixed  principle.  This  is  what 
Mr.  Mundella's  Board  accomplishes,  by  fixing  the  price 
of  all  piece-work  for  a  certain  time  in  advance.  There 
are  statements  of  prices  of  no  less  than  6,000  articles. 
This  fixes  the  wages  just  as  much  as  if  it  fixed  wages  for 
time  service.  It  amounts  to  a  code  of  rules  regulating 
the  particulars  of  the  whole  trade,  sometimes  lasting  with- 
out change  for  as  long  a  period  as  two  or  three  years. 
The  convenience  of  all  parties  is  consulted.  The  Board 
meets  once  every  three  months,  but  may  be  called  to- 
gether oftener  should  occasion  arise.  Due  notice  of  any 
proposed  alteration  must  be  given  beforehand. 

Both  Mr.  Mundella  and  Mr.  Kettle  agree  that  these 
Boards  ought  to  be  voluntary,  and  not  compulsory. 
They  believe  that  compulsion  is  fatal  to  conciliation. 
Some  of  the  Trades-Unionists  have  certainly  been  in 
favour  of  compulsory  arbitration.  But  I  believe  I  am 
right  in  stating  that  the  present  compulsory  legal  powers 
have  never  been  used  by  either  side  to  compel  the  other 
to  arbitrate  on  any  dispute.  Mr.  Mundella  and  Mr. 
Kettle  rely'  on  the  moral  coercion  which  the  employers 
and  the  men  can  exercise  over  the  individual  members  of 
their  respective  bodies.  The  influence  of  the  employers 
and  fair  reasoning  are  sufficient  to  make  any  employer 
who  might  be  disposed  to  disregard  the  decision  of  the 
Board  see  the  advantage  in  the  long  run  of  loyally  accept- 
ing an  unfavourable  decision  of  the  Board.  With  the 
workmen  there  would  be  a  great  difficulty  if  there  were 
no  Trades-Unions.  There  is  no  way  of  binding  the  men 
to  accept  the  decision  of  the  Board,  unless  there  are 


CONCILIATION  IN  ENGLAND.  2$ 

Unions  or  some  other  organization  among  them  that 
would  have  the  same  power  over  them.  Happily  the 
Trades-Unions  have  been  able  to  discharge  this  function, 
and  not  for  the  unionists  only  but  for  the  non-unionists 
as  well.  The  latter  are  very  glad  to  avail  themselves  of 
the  advantages  accruing  from  the  established  organization 
of  the  Unions ;  and  the  Board  is  in  fact  a  bond  of  union 
and  peace  between  unionist  and  non-unionist.  Some 
Boards  have  rules  to  prevent  any  difference  arising  from 
the  fact  of  a  man's  belonging  or  not  belonging  to  a  Trade- 
Union.  One  of  Mr.  Kettle's  rules  says  :  "  Neither  mas- 
ters nor  men  shall  interfere  with  any  man  on  account  of 
his  being  a  society  man  or  non-society  man."  The  Board 
in  fact  accepts  the  Trade-Union  and  the  principle  of  com- 
bination among  employers  and  employed,  and  uses  it  as 
the  instrument  for  establishing  peace  and  good  will, 
liberty  and  justice.  Both  Mr.  Kettle  and  Mr.  Mundella 
testify  to  the  value  of  the  Trades-Unions,  and  to  the  way 
in  which  the  workmen  have  performed  their  part.  Mr. 
Kettle  says :  "  My  experience  of  arbitration  is,  that  when 
the  masters  and  the  men  meet  as  men  of  business,  and 
discuss  their  business  matters  together  with  perfect  free- 
dom, it  is  the  greatest  possible  relief  both  to  the  men  and 
to  the  masters,  that  they  appreciate  the  opportunity  of 
coming  and  discussing  the  matter  candidly  and  fairly  with 
one  another,  and  I  have  never  found  the  men  unreason- 
able, nor  have  I  found  the  masters  unreasonable.  Some- 
times I  have  heard  untenable  propositions  enunciated  on 
either  side,  but  the  general  result  is  that  they  meet  in  a 
proper  spirit  and  come  to  a  satisfactory  arrangement." 

Mr.  Mundella  says :  "  The  very  men  that  the  manufac- 
turers dreaded  were  the  men  that  were  sent  to  represent 


26     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

the  workmen  at  the  Board.  We  found  them  the  most 
straightforward  men  we  could  desire  to  have  to  deal  with ; 
we  have  often  found  that  the  power  behind  them  has  been 
too  strong  for  them  ;  they  are  generally  the  most  intel- 
ligent men  ;  and  often  they  are  put  under  great  pressure 
by  workmen  outside  to  do  things  which  they  know  to  be 
contrary  to  common  sense,  and  they  will  not  do  them. 
They  have  been  the  greatest  barriers  we  have  had  between 
the  ignorant  workmen  and  ourselves." 

One  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  system  has  yet 
to  be  described  ;  that  is,  the  Committee  of  Inquiry,  which 
consists  of  four  members  of  the  Board,  two  employers 
and  two  operatives.  If  a  dispute  arises  it  comes  in  the 
first  instance  before  the  two  secretaries  of  the  Board.  If 
they  fail  to  adjust  the  difference  it  is  brought  before  the 
Committee  of  Inquiry,  but  they  have  no  power  to  make 
an  award.  They  can  only  settle  the  difference  amicably 
by  the  consent  of  both  sides.  In  one  of  the  rules  it  is 
distinctly  laid  down  that  neither  Board  nor  Committee 
will  entertain  any  application  from  men  on  strike.  The 
condition  of  the  Board's  action  is,  that  the  men  remain  at 
their  work.  Every  case  has  to  pass  through  the  hands, 
first  of  the  secretaries,  then  of  the  Committee,  before  it 
comes  to  the  last  stage,  the  Board.  There  has  been  no 
appeal  to  the  Board  for  a  year.  The  vice-president,  who 
is  a  workman,  writes  to  me  thus :  "  We  have  many  dis- 
putes, but  we  soon  settle  them.  I  have  settled  two  this 
week  quite  satisfactorily  to  both  workmen  and  employers. 
I  have  another  for  to-morrow.  But  I  have  no  doubt  when 
I  have  seen  the  parties  it  will  be  all  right,  without  either 
the  Committee  or  the  Board."  The  Board  has  been  a 
success  for  fifteen  years.  Masters  and  men  have  been 


CONCILIATION  IN  ENGLAND.  2J 

loyal  to  its  decisions.  There  have  been  exceptional  in- 
stances, in  which  individual  masters  and  small  bodies  of 
men  have  taken  huff  and  rejected  the  decision  of  the 
Board  ;  but  this  was  only  for  a  short  time.  Generally, 
when  such  seceders  have  listened  to  the  arguments  of  the 
members  of  the  Board,  they  have  in  time  seen  their  error, 
have  come  back,  and  by  so  doing  have  strengthened, 
rather  than  weakened,  the  vitality  of  the  system.  The 
lesson  could  not  be  learnt  by  all  at  once.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  V. 

CONCILIATION   IN   ENGLAND   (CONTINUED). 
1869-1890. 

EXTRACTS   FROM  AN  ARTICLE  BY   ROBERT   SPENCE   WATSON,    LL.D.1 

*  .  .  FORTY  years  ago  important  trades  in  England 
had  appointed  voluntary  Boards  of  Arbitration,  and  thirty 
years  ago,  Mr.  Mundella  formed,  at  Nottingham,  the  first 
voluntary  Board  of  Conciliation  and  Arbitration,  and  it 
still  continues  to  flourish,  and  to  legislate  for  the  hosiery 
and  glove  trades,  and  its  plan  has  been  adopted  in  the 
textile  and  chemical  trade,  the  boot  and  shoe  trade,  the 
lace  trade,  the  building  trade,  as  well  as  in  coal  and  iron 
mining  and  in  iron  manufacture. 

I  am  best  acquainted  with  what  has  occurred  in  some 
of  the  most  important  industries  of  Northumberland  and 
Durham.  In  them  the  way  to  avoid  industrial  war  has 
been  found,  and  followed  with  remarkable  success.  In 
the  coal  trade  in  both  of  these  counties  and  in  the  manu- 
factured iron  trade  of  the  North  of  England,  the  chosen 
representatives  of  employers  and  employed  have  met 
together  at  stated  intervals  and  under  fixed  regulations ; 
have  discussed  and  settled  innumerable  disputes  of  more 
or  less  importance ;  have,  from  time  to  time,  established 

1  "  The  Peaceable  Settlement  of  Labour  Disputes."  Reprinted  from  the 
Contemporary  Review  for  May,  1890,  by  permission  of  the  author. 

28 


CONCILIA  TION  IN  ENGLAND.  29 

sliding  scales  by  which  the  rate  of  wages  has  been  auto- 
matically regulated  ;  and  when,  upon  great  and  general 
questions,  agreement  has  been  found  impossible,  have 
referred  their  decision  to  one  or  more  independent  per- 
sons mutually  agreed  upon.  And  this  system  has  lasted 
for  long  years,  and  has  continued  to  work  through  good 
and  bad  times  alike,  and,  though  occasionally  under  cir- 
cumstances of  a  peculiarly  trying  nature,  the  decisions 
which  have  been  come  to  have  been  loyally  accepted. 

And  this  has  been  accomplished  voluntarily,  by  the 
mutual  agreement  and  mutual  loyalty  of  employers  and 
employed ;  and  without  appeal  to  any  law  but  that  of 
honour. 

.  .  .  The  great  majority  of  questions  which  come 
before  a  joint  Board  of  employers  and  employed,  or  the 
Standing  Committee  of  such  Board,  are  settled  by  what 
is  called  conciliation — which  is  simply  friendly  discussion 
over  the  table — but  very  few  matters  being  sent  to  arbi- 
tration. In  a  single  year  629  disputes  in  the  Durham  coal 
trade  were  so  settled.  More  than  3,000  have  been  peace- 
fully disposed  of  in  the  Northumberland  coal  trade  in  the 
sixteen  years  of  its  existence,  and  the  Standing  Commit- 
tee of  the  Finished  Iron  Trade  of  the  North  of  England 
has,  in  twenty  years,  met  318  times  and  has  amicably 
arranged  more  than  850  questions,  whilst  the  Board  itself 
has  only  met  109  times,  and  in  but  18  instances  has  arbi- 
tration been  resorted  to.  ... 

It  may  be  well  that  I  should,  at  this  point,  describe,  in 
rather  more  detail,  exactly  what  a  Joint  Board  of  Concilia- 
tion and  Arbitration  is,  and  how  it  works.  I  shall  take 
that  for  the  manufactured  iron  trade  of  the  North  of 
England,  which  is  a  good  example  of  such  a  Board.  It 


30      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

has  succeeded  in  developing  and  maintaining  friendly  re- 
lationship between  employer  and  employed  in  a  trade  in 
which  a  hostile  attitude  largely  prevailed,  a  trade  which 
had  undergone  peculiarly  rapid  development,  and  into 
which  there  had  been  a  large  influx  of  labourers  from 
Ireland  as  well  as  other  parts  of  England,  so  that  masters 
and  men  were  strangers  one  to  the  other.  This  friendly 
relationship  has  stood  the  test  alike  of  prosperity  and  of 
adversity,  for,  during  the  twenty  years'  existence  of  the 
Board,  prices  have  touched  the  highest  and  lowest  points 
recorded,  and  wages  have  been  reduced  to  the  smallest 
sum  yet  given. 

The  Board  is  thoroughly  representative  in  its  character. 
It  consists  of  one  employer  from  each  works  in  union 
with  it,  and  one  delegate  who  is  annually  chosen  by  bal- 
lot by  the  operatives  at  each  works  so  in  union  with  the 
Board.  Each  representative  is  deemed  to  be  fully 
authorized  to  act  for  the  works  which  has  elected  him, 
and  the  decision  of  a  majority  of  the  Board,  or,  in  case  of 
equality  of  votes,  of  its  referee,  is  binding  upon  the  em- 
ployers and  operatives  of  all  works  which  are  represented 
upon  it.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  binding  upon  the 
whole  trade,  and  must  be  so  where  the  greater  number  of 
works  in  the  trade  are  represented  on  the  Board. 

At  its  first  meeting  in  each  year,  a  president  and  secre- 
tary are  elected  out  of  the  representatives  of  the  employ- 
ers, and  a  vice-president  and  a  second  secretary  out  of 
the  representatives  of  the  employed.  The  Board  also 
appoints  a  referee,  who  presides  when  his  presence  is  re- 
quired, two  treasurers  and  two  auditors.  The  employers 
nominate  ten  of  their  number,  exclusive  of  the  president, 
and  the  operatives  five  of  their  number,  exclusive  of  the 


CONCILIATION  IN  ENGLAND.  31 

vice-president,  to  form  the  Standing  Committee.  Only 
five  of  the  employers'  representatives  can  vote  or  take 
part  in  any  discussion  at  any  meeting  of  the  Committee, 
the  greater  number  which  they  are  allowed  being  simply 
to  meet  the  more  frequent  absence  from  home  of  those 
upon  whom  the  management  of  works  devolves.  The 
president  and  vice-president  are  ex-officio  members  of  all 
committees,  but  without  the  power  of  voting.  The 
Board  meets  twice  a  year,  but  it  can  be  convened  at  any 
time  by  the  Standing  Committee,  which  meets  monthly, 
or  more  frequently  if  business  should  require  it. 

All  questions  requiring  investigation  are  referred,  in 
the  first  instance,  to  the  Standing  Committee,  and  must 
be  submitted  to  writing,  and  supplemented  by  such  ver- 
bal evidence  as  the  Committee  may  think  needful.  Be- 
fore any  question  is  considered  an  agreement  of  submis- 
sion is  signed  by  the  employer  and  the  operative  delegate 
of  the  works  affected,  and  if  the  Committee  fail  to  agree 
the  referee  is  called  in.  He  has  power  to  take  the  evi- 
dence of  witnesses  should  he  desire  to  do  so.  Seven 
clear  days'  notice  of  any  question  to  be  brought  before 
the  Committee  or  the  Board  must  be  given  to  the 
secretaries. 

I  should  mention  that  the  Board  has  issued  and  circu- 
lated printed  instructions  which  direct  that  any  subscriber 
to  it,  who  has  a  grievance,  must  first  explain  it  to  the 
operative  representative  of  his  works,  and,  if  there  seem 
to  be  good  grounds  of  complaint,  they  must  be  laid 
before  the  foreman,  works  manager,  or  head  of  the  con- 
cern. "  The  complaint  should  be  stated  in  a  way  that 
implies  an  expectation  that  it  will  be  fairly  and  fully  con- 
sidered, and  that  what  is  right  will  be  done.  In  most 


32     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

cases  this  will  lead  to  a  settlement  without  the  matter 
having  to  go  further." 

The  Standing  Committee  has  power  to  settle  all  ques- 
tions, except  a  general  rise  or  fall  of  wages,  or  the  selec- 
tion of  an  arbritrator  to  fix  such  rise  or  fall.  These 
points  are  reserved  for  the  Board  itself.  In  case  it  can 
arrive  at  no  agreement  upon  them,  a  single  arbitra- 
tor is  appointed,  and  his  decision,  at  or  after  a  special 
court  held  for  the  purpose,  is  final  and  binding  on  the 
parties.  The  Board  also  considers  and  decides  all 
questions  which  the  Standing  Committee  may  refer 
to  it. 

When  an  arbitrator  is  appointed,  the  party  making  an 
application  for  a  rise  or  fall  in  wages  furnishes  him  with 
a  printed  statement  of  the  grounds  upon  which  it  bases 
its  claim,  and  the  opposing  party  hands  in  a  printed  an- 
swer. It  is  desirable  that  these  should  be  so  full  that 
each  party  may  know  the  exact  standpoint  of  the  other, 
and  understand  what  will  have  to  be  met  at  the  hearing. 
There  is  sometimes  a  rejoinder  from  one  or  both  parties, 
and,  when  the  case  is  complete,  the  arbitrator  proceeds 
to  hold  his  court.  The  members  of  the  Board  attend, 
one  being  appointed  to  lead  the  argument  on  each  side, 
but  the  opportunity  being  also  given  for  full  expression 
by  every  member  who  wishes  to  speak  upon  the  matter. 
Either  side  may  bring  forward  any  evidence,  or  the  arbi- 
trator may  require  evidence  to  be  brought  before  him,  and, 
when  his  award  is  arrived  at,  he  prints  it,  and  forwards 
a  copy  to  each  member  of  the  Board.  A  shorthand  note 
is  taken  of  all  the  proceedings,  and  this  is  afterwards  ex- 
tended and  printed.  Reporters  for  the  press  are  allowed 
to  be  present  at  the  hearing. 


CONCILIA  TION  IN  ENGLAND. 


33 ./ 


.  .  .  Invariably  there  is  a  desire  to  avoid  mere  legal 
technicalities,  but  this  does  not  prevent  strict  proof  being 
required  of  statements  of  fact  upon  which  the  parties  differ. 
In  practice,  and  as  a  general  rule,  each  side  is  anxious  to 
furnish  the  other  with  all  facts  and  figures  which  it  in- 
tends to  use,  and  as  a  result  an  agreement  is  arrived  at 
which  prevents  the  necessity  of  calling  much  evidence. 

The  Board  appoints  an  accountant  of  high  position  and 
great  experience,  by  whom  the  books  of  the  several  firms 
connected  with  it  are  audited  at  the  end  of  each  two 
months,  with  the  object  of  correctly  ascertaining  the  net 
selling  price  of  the  iron  actually  invoiced  and  sold  by 
these  firms  during  the  preceding  two  months.  He  issues 
a  formal  certificate  of  the  average  selling  price  for  that 
period,  and  these  ascertainments  are  held  to  be  authorita- 
tive. He  is,  of  course,  pledged  to  secrecy. 

Perhaps  the  only  other  matter  which  needs  explanation 
is  the  method  of  providing  for  the  expenses  of  the  Board, 
and  the  payment  of  its  members.  One  penny  per  head 
per  fortnight  is  deducted  from  the  wages  of  each  opera- 
tive earning  half-a-crown  per  day  and  upwards,  and  each 
firm  contributes  a  sum  equal  to  the  total  sum  deducted 
from  its  workmen.  Each  member  of  the  Board  or  Stand- 
ing Committee  is  allowed  IDS.  for  each  meeting,  and  the 
sum  thus  obtained  is  divided  equally  between  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  employed  and  those  of  the  employers, 
and  is  distributed  by  each  side  in  proportion  to  the 
attendances  of  each  member.  Second-class  railway  fare 
each  way  is  allowed  in  addition,  and  necessary  loss  to 
night-shiftmen  is  made  up  to  them. 

This,  then,  is  a  description  of  the  way  in  which  a 
Board  has  been  formed  and  has  worked  for  twenty  years 


34     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

in  the  constant  practice  of  industrial  peace.  But,  if  this 
be  so,  and  if  we  can  point  to  similar  Boards  in  many  dif- 
ferent industries,  practising  a  similar  peaceful  method  of 
settling  industrial  disputes,  and  with  conspicuous  success, 
how  comes  it  that  such  methods  are  not  more  generally 
adopted?  What  are  the  real  or  imaginary  difficulties 
which  stand  in  the  way  of  the  peaceable  solution  of  labour 
questions?  Why  are  not  Joint  Boards  of  Conciliation 
and  Arbitration  the  rule  instead  of  the  exception  ? 

Before  I  address  myself  to  these  questions,  let  me  point 
out  again  that  the  peace  principle,  so  far  as  arbitration  is 
concerned,  was  long  ago  adopted  in  certain  trades. 
There  were  one  or  two  instances  of  Boards  which  aimed 
at  the  joint  arrangement  of  prices  and  wages,  even  so 
early  as  1853.  Since  that  time  the  principle  of  arbitra- 
tion has  been  widely  accepted,  so  widely  indeed  that 
there  are  few  trades  in  which  serious  disputes  have  not 
been  settled  by  references  to  disinterested  persons,  and 
there  are  probably  no  important  and  representative  bodies, 
either  of  employers  or  employed,  which  have  not,  in  one 
way  or  another,  declared  in  its  favour.  In  fact,  the  rules 
of  most  Trades-Unions  make  special  provision  for  it.  But 
arbitration  is  only  one  department  of  industrial  peace,  and 
the  least  important.  It  is  the  department  of  conciliation 
which  is  the  most  useful  and  valuable,  and  it  is  exactly  in 
that  department  that  so  little  progress  has  been  made. 

The  reasons,  in  my  opinion,  are  not  far  to  seek.  That 
which  I  should  place  first  is  the  prevalence  of  caste  feel- 
ing upon  both  sides.  Whilst  fully  acknowledging  that, 
so  far  as  its  most  objectionable  features  are  concerned, 
this  is  disappearing,  it  is  yet  (perhaps  unconsciously)  all 


CONCILIATION  IN  ENGLAND.  35 

but  universal,  even  where  the  best  understanding  prevails 
between  employers  and  employed,  even  amongst  the  wise, 
honest,  good,  and  earnest  men  upon  both  sides. 

Where  this  caste  feeling  has  not  been  removed  or  modi- 
fied by  experience,  employers  do  not  look  upon  those 
whom  they  employ  as  men  with  whom  they  can  discuss 
upon  equal  terms  labour  questions  affecting  both  ;  and 
the  employed  look  upon  the  employer  as  one  who  is  not 
amenable  to  reason,  who  does  not  expect  his  decrees  to 
be  argued  about.  There  is  no  mutual  trust,  no  confi- 
dence or  sympathy.  There  is  suspicion  of  motives ; 
doubt  on  one  side  of  the  disinterestedness  of  any  third 
party  proposed  by  the  other ;  entire  want  of  faith  that 
any  good  could  arise  from  meeting  and  talking  matters 
over,  for  neither  believes  that  it  is  possible  to  convince 
the  other. 

This  caste  feeling  will  be  killed  out,  partly  by  experience 
on  the  part  of  the  employers,  and  partly  by  growth  of 
education  on  the  part  of  the  employed.  We  must  always 
remember  that  the  factory  system,  the  parent  of  so  many 
trade  troubles,  has  been  little  more  than  a  century  in 
existence,  and  Trades-Unions,  without  which  Joint  Boards 
can,  perhaps,  not  exist,  have  only  been  fully  legalized  for 
the  past  fifteen  years.  During  four-fifths  of  the  existence 
of  the  factory  system  the  law  itself  adopted  the  idea  of 
the  supremacy  of  the  employer.  The  old  domestic 
system  of  manufacture  died  out  with  the  utilisation  of  the 
steam-engine.  The  patriarchal  system  as  applied  to 
labour  died  out  with  the  growth  of  the  great  factories, 
but  the  masters  practically  retained  for  long  years  the 
power  to  combine  and  to  regulate  labour  as  they  thought 
best,  and  to  keep  wages  down,  whilst  the  men  were  com- 


36     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

paratively  powerless.  Fifteen  years  is  far  too  short  a 
period  to  admit  of  the  uprooting  of  the  jealousy,  the 
distrust,  the  heart-burnings  on  the  one  side,  and  the 
dominant  feeling  upon  the  other,  which  ninety  years  gave 
strength  to.  It  is  not  surprising  that  there  are  masters 
who  cling  to  the  old  relationship  of  superior  and  inferior, 
of  master  and  servant,  who  have  still  the  feeling  that  they 
are  the  benefactors  of  the  men  who  give  them  the  agreed 
amount  of  labour  in  exchange  for  the  agreed  amount  of 
their  coin.  For  that  is,  after  all,  the  view  generally  enter- 
tained and  sanctioned  by  no  less  an  authority  than  Society 
itself,  which  regards  men  who  get  money  in  exchange  for 
work  as  inferior,  but  men  who  get  money  for  doing  nothing 
as  superior  beings,  ipso  facto.  And  wherever  the  old  feeling, 
the  old  feudal  feeling,  prevails  amongst  employers — wher- 
ever employers  do  not  recognise  that  the  relationship  of 
master  and  servant  has  been  exchanged  for  that  of  the 
purchaser  and  the  seller  of  labour — the  old  doubting, 
antagonistic,  warlike  feeling  will  be  found  amongst  the 
employed. 

So  long  as  employers  endeavour  to  insist  that  their 
views  alone  shall  be  considered  in  the  regulation  of  labour, 
so  long,  in  any  case  of  difficulty,  will  war  prevail.  The 
men  will  believe  that  the  masters  would  not  advocate  a 
peaceful  solution  unless  they  had  some  strong  motive  to 
do  so,  and  unless  it  must  result  to  their  advantage,  and 
both  parties  will  be  inclined  to  think  that  any  peaceful 
decision  which  might  be  come  to  would  only  be  observed 
if  it  were  not  convenient  to  either  of  them  to  disre- 
gard it. 

Again,  the  feeling  to  which  I  alluded  arouses  an  un- 
willingness on  the  part  of  employers  in  any  way  to  recog- 


CONCILIATION  IN  ENGLAND.  37 

nise  Unions  amongst  the  men,  and  the  interference  of 
"  outsiders  "  in  their  business  affairs.  This  places  a  serious 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  the  peaceful  settlement  of  labour 
disputes  by  a  Joint  Board  of  Conciliation  and  Arbitration, 
for  such  a  Board  can  only  exist  in  any  trade  if  it  repre- 
sents practically  the  whole  of  such  trade  in  any  special 
district,  and  such  representation  is  most  readily  ensured 
where  the  employers  and  employed  of  the  district  each 
have  strong  and  general  associations.  Before  either  party 
consents  to  join  a  Board  it  must  be  satisfied  that  the 
other  is  so  truly  representative  that  the  decision  of  the 
Board  will  be  authoritative,  and  will  be  practically  recog- 
nised and  obeyed  by  the  trade  of  the  district,  for  the 
ultimate  sanction  of  arbitration  and  conciliation  is  strikes 
and  locks-out. 

Then,  again,  the  idea  of  furnishing  information  to 
others  about  their  own  business  transactions  has  been  a 
stumbling-block  to  some  employers  who  have  begun  to 
think  seriously  about  adopting  industrial  peace.  Now,  in 
order  that  any  discussion  of  trade  difficulties  may  be  to 
profit  there  must  be  an  equal  knowledge  on  both  sides  of 
all  necessary  facts.  It  is  not  enough  that  the  employers 
should  make  certain  statements.  The  point  of  view  of 
the  buyer  and  seller  is  never  the  same.  However  anxious 
for  the  truth  a  man  maybe,  " where  self  the  wavering 
balance  shakes,  it 's  rarely  right  adjusted."  Even  when 
such  facts  as  can  be  are  actually  ascertained,  and  their 
accuracy  guaranteed,  the  conclusions  drawn  from  them 
often  differ  so  widely  that  a  third  party  must  be  called  in  to 
decide  which  view  is  the  correct  one.  But  not  only  have 
many  employers  the  old  feeling  that  they  only  have  the 
right  to  be  judge,  and  that  questions  of  prices,  wages,  and 


38     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

so  forth  are  for  them  alone ;  but  each  employer  is,  in 
relation  to  other  employers,  in  the  position  of  a  com- 
petitor, and  does  not  wish  to  disclose  anything  to  those 
who  may  take  advantage  of  it  to  his  detriment.  The 
very  knowledge  that  there  must  be  openness  in  the  place 
of  secrecy,  the  ignorance  of  how  far  this  may  go,  the  fear 
that  it  may  militate  against  his  interests,  are  barriers  in 
the  way  of  the  formation  of  a  Board,  the  undoubted 
merits  of  which  seem  to  him  to  be  paid  for  at  too  great  a 
price. 

But  this,  in  common  with  the  other  objections  to  Joint 
Boards,  will  vanish  with  full  knowledge  of  their  character, 
and  with  even  a  slight  experience  of  their  actual  working. 
The  books  of  an  employer  are  neither  disclosed  to  other 
employers  nor  to  the  employed.  No  evidence  is  given 
or  asked  for  which  mentions  the  profits  which  are  being 
made.  The  books  of  each  firm,  which  has  given  in  its 
adherence  to  the  Board,  are  periodically  examined  by  a 
skilled  accountant,  who  is  pledged  to  absolute  secrecy. 
At  the  close  of  his  investigations  he  gives  the  result  he  has 
arrived  at,  the  average  selling  price  which  has  been  ob- 
tained during  the  period  examined.  I  have  never  heard 
any  instance  of  an  employer  receiving  the  smallest  injury 
from  such  investigation. 

I  have  already  pointed  out  that,  speaking  generally,  the 
decisions  which  have  been  come  to  by  voluntary  concilia- 
tion or  arbitration  have  been  loyally  accepted  and  acted 
upon  by  both  parties.  In  the  history  of  Joint  Boards, 
there  are,  indeed,  cases  recorded  where  this  has  not  been 
so,  but  they  have  been  the  rare  exceptions,  and  have  not 
been  upon  one  side  only,  and  loyal  acceptance  has  been 
the  rule.  I  must  put  this  point  emphatically;  for  the 


CONCILIATION  IN  ENGLAND. 

experience  which  I  have  had  in  several  industries,  but 
especially  in  that  of  which  I  have  seen  the  most,  the 
finished  iron  trade  of  the  North  of  England,  and  that  ex- 
clusively during  an  unsettled  and  trying  period,  has  abun- 
dantly shown  me  that  awards,  come  to  after  patient  hearing 
and  careful  consideration,  are  received  with  a  loyalty  and 
appreciation  which  are  not  only  satisfactory  and  surpris- 
ing, but  which  also  give,  to  the  person  called  upon  to 
decide,  confidence  and  encouragement  in  the  performance 
of  a  delicate,  difficult,  and  often  painful  duty. 

And  not  only  so,  but  the  fact  of  sitting  round  the  same 
table  and  listening  to  each  other's  arguments  ;  the  endeav- 
our to  see  each  other's  standpoint  and  to  understand  each 
other's  reasons  ;  the  learning  to  give  as  well  as  to  take  ;  to 
bear  and  forbear  ;  to  hold  your  own  opinion  firmly  and  to 
express  it  moderately,  whilst  keeping  your  mind  open 
to  conviction  ;  the  desire  to  come  to  a  sound  and  fair  con- 
clusion ;  these  things  are  valuable  in  promoting  mutual 
good-feeling,  confidence,  and  sympathy,  which  evidence 
themselves  in  many  ways  outside  of  the  sphere  in  which 
they  have  been  acquired,  and  they  tend  to  lessen  the  caste 
feeling  to  which  I  have  alluded,  and  which  is  not  one  of 
the  most  wholesome  features  of  our  English  life.  This 
friendly  meeting  is  the  best  feature  of  voluntary  concilia- 
tion, and  is  the  grand  distinction  between  it  and  concilia- 
tion under  the  law. 

I  think,  then,  that  the  best  way  to  secure  the  peace- 
ful solution  of  labour  disputes  is  to  promote  the  formation 
of  Joint  Boards  of  Conciliation  and  Arbitration  in  all 
branches  of  industry,  and,  in  order  that  such  Boards  may 
be  readily  formed  with  the  greatest  chance  of  success,  to 
encourage  combinations  both  of  employers  and  employed. 


4O     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

I  believe  that  there  will  be  an  increasing  tendency,  as  such 
Boards  continue  to  perform  their  peaceful  mission,  for  the 
Unions  to  become  allies,  instead  of  competitors,  to  the 
great  benefit  of  both  classes,  and  of  the  community  of 
which  they  form  so  important  a  part.  .  .  . 


CHAPTER  VI. 

CONCILIATION   IN  BELGIUM. 

THE    COLLIERY    OF    BASCOUP. 

1876-1893. 

MAINLY   TRANSLATED    FROM*  THE   FRENCH    OF   Mr.    JULIEN   WEILER. 

IN  the  Province  of  Hainault,  in  Belgium,  a  coal-pro- 
ducing country,  there  are  two  mines,  Mariemont  and 
Bascoup,  belonging  to  the  same  Company,  the  history  of 
which  during  the  past  eighteen  years  is  one  to  cheer  the 
heart  of  every  lover  of  mankind,  for  every  act  of  the 
Management  in  relation  to  their  workmen  during  that 
period  seems  to  have  been  actuated  by  the  most  exalted 
sense  of  justice. 

The  account  of  the  several  forms  in  which  this  spirit 
has  manifested  itself  is  best  given  in  the  words  of  Mr. 
Julien  Weiler,  who,  himself  the  leader  and  inspirer  of  all, 
has  been  well  seconded  both  by  his  superiors  and  sub- 
ordinates in  the  Management. 

Mr.  Weiler  has  been  for  many  years  at  the  head  of  the 
mechanical  department  of  both  mines,  and  from  time  to 
time  he  has  written  and  published  statements  concern- 
ing the  relations  of  the  Management  to  the  miners  and 
other  workmen  employed.  The  first  of  these  publica- 
tions is  a  letter  addressed  by  Mr.  Weiler  on  December 

41 


42      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

23,  1880,  to  Mr.  Fre"de"ric  Passy,  published  in  the  Journal 
des  Economistes.  I  shall  give  only  extracts  from  this 
letter. 

"  The  question  of  arbitration,  or  rather  of  the  relation 
between  employers  and  workmen,  is  in  this  country,  as  in 
yours,  one  which  demands  immediate  solution.  It  is 
already  ten  years  since  workingmen  on  strike  began  to 
ask  for  arbitrators  between  themselves  and  their  em- 
ployers, but  this  demand,  which  was  repeated  at  the  last 
strike  at  Borinage,  was,  and  still  is,  met  by  the  most  com- 
plete contempt. 

"  In  1875  and  1876  we  had,  in  the  collieries  of  Marie- 
mont,  a  strike  of  some  duration  which  surprised  us  a 
good  deal,  both  because  we  had  never  had  one  before, 
and  because  the  object  of  the  strike  was  not  clearly  de- 
fined. .  .  .  We  thought  our  workmen  well  satisfied  ; 
they  had  been  very  well  treated  for  fifty  years  by  the 
family  of  Warocque,  principal  owners  of  the  mines,  and 
were  distinguished  from  the  working  people  of  the  neigh- 
boring mines  by  their  moral  and  physical  well-being. 
.  .«  .  It  was  at  this  time  that  our  Superintendent  re- 
quested me  to  study  what  had  been  done  by  the  English 
under  the  same  circumstances,  and  I  received  from  Mr. 
Mundella,  member  of  Parliament,  certain  papers,  which 
impressed  me  very  much.  They  led  me  to  recognize 
the  great  danger  arising  from  the  more  and  more  com- 
plete separation  in  the  great  industries  of  the  employers 
and  their  representatives  from  their  workmen,  there  being 
seldom  any  mutual  intercourse  except  through  the  medi- 
ation of  agents,  who  are  not  only  irresponsible,  but  often 
even  interested  in  keeping  up  the  abuses  complained  of. 
.  .  .  A  little  later,  Mr.  Crompton's  book  (on  Indus- 


CONCILIA  TION  IN  BELGIUM.  43 

trial  Conciliation]  was  published.  I  did  not  translate  it 
at  once,  but  I  decided  to  apply  the  principle  of  concilia- 
tion. I  organized  in  a  part  of  the  service  under  my 
charge  (the  construction  workshops,  employing  about  two 
hundred  men),  regular  meetings  between  the  workmen 
and  the  officers  of  the  company,  where  all  incidents  occur- 
ring in  the  shops  were  to  be  discussed  in  common.  Each 
trade  (there  are  not  less  than  nine)  has  its  own  Committee, 
composed  of  six  workmen  and  six  officers  or  foremen,  the 
same  officers  acting  on  several  committees.  Each  group 
sends  a  delegate  to  a  Central  Committee,  which  deals 
with  questions  of  general  interest. 

"The  beginning  was  not  encouraging  ...  I  received 
during  the  first  year  only  expressions  of  distrust  from  the 
workmen  and  of  want  of  faith  from  the  foremen,  with 
but  few  exceptions.  The  workmen  especially  seemed 
determined  not  to  try  the  system.  They  saw  in  it,  as 
they  have  since  told  me,  only  a  trap,  a  device  to  bring 
about  a  decrease  of  wages. 

"  There  was,  undoubtedly,  in  the  first  plan,  which  was 
different  from  that  described  above,  a  flaw,  which  the 
careful  re-reading  of  Mr.  Crompton's  book  showed  me. 
The  meetings  were  not  informal  enough  ;  the  workmen 
did  not  feel  at  ease.  ...  I  modified  the  first  plan 
and  I  was  fortunate  enough  this  time  to  happen  on  one 
which  no  longer  had  to  contend  with  the  shyness  of  the 
workmen.  The  least  distrustful  decided,  consequently, 
to  make  a  clean  breast  of  it,  and  I  learned  of  a  quantity 
of  grievances,  more  or  less  important,  which  I  had 
known  nothing  of,  because  the  subordinate  officers  did 
not  think  it  worth  while  to  pass  on  the  complaints  of  the 
men  to  their  superiors,  and  which  had  never  been  cor- 


44     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

rected,  because  the  means  of  their  removal  were  not  at 
their  command.  Almost  all  these  grievances  have  since 
been  corrected  without  any  injury  to  the  interests  of  the 
collieries,  but  the  reverse. 

"  The  third  year  was  noted  for  the  peaceful  progress  of 
the  works  and  the  absence  of  complaints,  the  year  before 
having  settled  all  the  troubles  which  had  been  accumu- 
lating for  a  long  time.  It  was  therefore  possible  for  us  to 
undertake  more  serious  questions,  and  we  accomplished 
some  very  important  results,  among  which  were  the 
following : 

"  i.  The  abolition  of  fines,  not  one  having  been  imposed 
since  February,  1877,  although  never,  as  the  foremen  all 
agree,  have  the  rules  been  better  carried  out.  These  rules, 
by  the  way,  have  been  revised  by  the  Central  Committee. 

"  2.  The  adoption  of  piece-work '  under  conditions 
which  seemed  to  render  it  impracticable. 

"  3.  The  decrease  of  the  cost  of  production,  together 
with  a  decided  increase  of  wages,  which  have  risen  twenty 
per  cent.,  while  the  cost  has  decreased  still  more. 

"  On  the  1st  of  January,  1880,  I  extended  the  system  to 
another  part  of  my  service — the  machinists  and  firemen, 
about  250  men.  I  had  expected  here  also,  as  the  first 
difficulty,  a  fixed  distrust ;  but  I  found,  on  the  contrary, 
the  utmost  readiness  on  the  part  of  the  workmen  to 
respond.  The  fact  was  that  the  experiment  which  they 
had  watched  in  the  shops  for  three  years,  had  shown  them 
the  advantages  of  the  plan. 

1  "...  I  believe  that  piece-work,  if  accompanied  by  a  guaranty  to  the  work- 
men of  the  maintenance  of  wages  at  a  rate  agreed  upon,  and  a  guaranty  to 
the  employer  of  the  excellence  of  the  work,  may  contain  a  complete  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  of  a  fair  division  of  the  results  of  production." 


CONCILIATION  IN  BELGIUM.  45 

"  We  have  now  reached  the  close  of  the  fourth  year, 
and  on  both  sides  all  has  gone  well.  The  foremen,  as 
well  as  the  workmen,  seem  to  me  to  be  cordially  attached 
to  the  system  from  which  they  have  obtained  so  many 
good  results,  and  I  think  it  would  be  difficult  to  stop  our 
meetings. 

"  The  direct  results  which  I  have  enumerated  above  are 
not  the  only  ones  which  the  mutual  good  understanding 
has  brought  about.  The  workmen,  who  are  gradually 
coming  to  see  the  falsehood  of  the  idea  so  deeply  rooted 
among  them,  '  That  we  seek  their  injury  because  it  is  our 
profit]  have  accepted  our  suggestions  to  form  Mutual 
Benefit  Societies,  Saving  Societies,  etc.  They  subscribe 
to  our  public  lectures,  they  have  helped  us  to  found 
libraries,  and  have  been  eager  to  attend  the  courses  in 
*  Industrial  Economy,'  which  I  have  established  especially 
for  them. 

"  The  great  desideratum  now  is  that  this  movement 
should  be  extended  to  include  the  miners,  who  number  at 
Mariemont  and  Bascoup  more  than  5,000  men. 

"  But  the  great  obstacle  which  the  ideas  of  MM.  Mun- 
della  and  Crompton  meet  with  in  Belgium  is  the  want  of 
organization  among  our  workingmen.  Our  employers  have 
always  opposed  and  still  oppose  all  attempts  to  form 
Trades-Unions."  ' 

In  June,  1888,  Mr.  Weiler  read  a  short  paper  to  the 
members  of  the  "  Socie"t£  Beige  d'ficonomie  Sociale  "  en- 
titled "L'  Esprit  des  Institutions  Ouvrieres  de  Marie- 
mont," in  which,  after  describing  a  number  of  most  useful 

1  Mr.  Weiler  does  not  here  refer  to  the  Management  of  the  collieries  of 
Mariemont  and  Bascoup,  which  has,  on  the  contrary,  encouraged  organiza- 
tion among  their  men. 


46     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

institutions  maintained  in  part  by  the  workingmen  and  in 
part  by  the  Company,  he  proceeds  : 

"  There  remain  only  the  institutions  concerned  with  the 
system  of  work  in  our  shops.  Recognizing  how  weak 
the  isolated  workman  is  as  regards  his  employer,  . 
we  have  sought  to  create  more  equitable  conditions  by 
forming  our  mechanics  into  professional  groups,  with  which 
we  make  contracts  for  a  given  time. 

"  We  have  also  given  to  the  workmen  an  interest  in  the 
saving  of  the  general  cost  of  production  ;  in  oil,  coal,  gas, 
tools,  even  in  material  saved  ;  and  we  and  they  have  reaped 
a  very  decided  advantage.  But  the  direct  saving  of 
money  is  not  the  only  benefit  which  the  workmen,  and 
the  Company  as  well,  have  received — there  is  another, 
which  we  think  more  important  and  which  we  call  the 
moral  profit. 

"  As  you  will  easily  see,  a  system  which  fosters  in  the 
workman  the  best  qualities  of  manhood,  the  spirit  of  order, 
of  honesty  in  carrying  out  his  contracts,  the  sentiment  of 
justice,  cannot  fail  to  produce  a  very  marked  moral  effect, 
and  its  influence  will  show  itself  outside  the  shops.  It  is 
not  to  be  questioned,  and  indeed  I  know  it  to  be  a  fact, 
that  a  machinist  who  has  been  taking  pains  to  save  a  few 
pints  of  oil,  or  a  few  pounds  of  coal,  will  not  allow  waste 
in  his  own  house,  and  he  thus  becomes  the  educator  of  his 
own  wife  and  children.  I  will  not  enlarge  on  this  point, 
as  it  seems  to  be  self-evident. 

"  But  notwithstanding  all  efforts  in  systematizing  work, 
disagreements  may  occur  between  workmen  and  foremen, 
and  these  cannot  be  adjusted  except  by  the  closest  rela- 
tions between  the  contracting  parties.  Our  *  Chambres 
d'Explications  '  are  intended  to  meet  this  want — they  have 
been  in  operation  twelve  years  to  the  complete  satisfaction 


CONCILIA  TION  IN  BELGIUM.  47 

of  both  parties.  Every  workman  is  assured  access  to  the 
superior  officers  of  the  company  to  explain  his  grievance, 
whatever  it  may  be. 

"  Our  '  Chambres  d'Explications  '  are  not  courts  ;  they 
are,  as  the  name  shows,  meetings  where  explanations  are 
made.  They  exist  only  in  the  Mechanical  Division.  But 
another  and  more  important  institution  has  within  the 
past  six  months  been  established  for  the  whole  colliery  ; 
that  is  the  Board  of  Conciliation  and  Arbitration, .  .  .  com- 
posed half  of  working-men  and  half  of  officers  of  the  com- 
pany, and  to  which  the  Management  has  voluntarily 
relinquished  a  part  of  its  prerogatives,  which  nothing  could 
have  forced  it  to  surrender.  Notably  it  has  given  the 
Board  the  right  to  decide  in  case  of  any  question  as  to 
wages. 

"  Our  two  Boards  of  Conciliation  and  Arbitration  (we 
have  one  for  Mariemont  and  one  for  Bascoup)  have  already 
had  to  decide  important  questions." 


The  reports  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation  for  the  colliery 
of  Bascoup  for  the  years  1889,  I^9O,  and  1891  are  inter- 
esting reading,  and  show  the  number  and  character  of  the 
questions  presented  for  settlement  at  the  monthly  meet- 
ings. In  1890,  for  instance,  there  were  39  "general  ques- 
tions, bearing  upon  the  interests  of  more  than  one  group 
of  workmen";  15  "special  questions,  relating  to  one 
group  or  to  one  shop,"  and  3  "  individual  questions."  In 
1891,  there  were  33  "general  questions"  considered  and 
decided,  12  "special  questions,"  and  2  "individual  ques- 
tions." These  questions,  it  is  to  be  understood,  so  far  as 
they  related  to  the  shops,  had  to  be  first  submitted  to  the 
"Chambres  d'Explications,"  and  to  fail  of  adjustment 


48     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

there,  before  they  could  be  presented  to  the  Board  of 
Conciliation  and  Arbitration  for  final  decision. 

At  the  fifth  session  of  the  Board  for  the  year  1891,  on 
the  2Oth  of  April,  the  following  entry  appears  in  the 
minutes  : 

"  The  Board  listened  to  the  following  communication 
from  the  workman  Vice-President :  '  He  foresees  that  the 
workingmen  may  be  forced  to  declare  a  general  strike  in 
support  of  their  demand  fora  revision  of  the  Constitution. 
The  workmen  of  Bascoup  will  be  obliged  in  that  case  to 
join  the  general  movement,  and  he  desires  to  declare  in 
their  name  that  such  action  would  be  purely  political, 
since  they  have  no  sort  of  grievance  against  the  Manage- 
ment of  the  mines.  He  hopes,  if  the  strike  should  take 
place,  that  it  would  not  affect  the  Board  of  Conciliation, 
and  that  the  relations  now  subsisting  between  the  Man- 
agement and  the  workmen  would  not  suffer.' 

"  The  meeting  unanimously  instructed  the  President,  in 
case  a  strike  were  declared,  to  communicate  at  once  with 
the  Vice-President,  and  that  they  should  together  decide 
whether  a  special  session  of  the  Board  should  be  called." 

The  minutes  of  the  session  of  the  ist  of  June,  1891, 
have  the  following  entry :  "  A  letter  was  read  from  the 
President,  expressing  his  regret  at  being  unable,  owing 
to  illness,  to  take  part  in  the  meeting.  He  wished  to 
take  the  opportunity  to  express  his  opinion  of  the  con- 
duct of  the  men  during  the  political  strike,  which  had 
taken  place  without  the  suspension  of  work  in  the  mines 
of  Bascoup.  He  presents  his  thanks  to  them,  and  closes 
by  saying  that  by  their  attitude  they  have  done  a  service 
to  the  working  class,  and  have  ensured  themselves 
sympathy  in  any  subsequent  demands," 


CONCILIA  TION  IN  BELGIUM.  49 

In  the  issue  of  December  29,  1892,  of  the  Journal  de 
Ckarleroi,  appeared  the  following  account  of  the  funeral 
services  of  Joseph  Dandois,  a  miner  in  the  colliery  of 
Bascoup,  and  Vice-President  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation 
and  Arbitration  for  that  colliery : 

"  On  Monday  took  place  the  civil  funeral  of  our  friend, 
Joseph  Dandois,  of  Gouy-lez-Pi£ton,  who  died  so  unfor- 
tunately in  an  accident  in  the  pit  of  Trazegnies  in  the 
colliery  of  Bascoup.  Formerly  member  of  the  Interna- 
tional, founder  of  the  Free-Thinkers,  member  of  the 
Labor  Party,  Vice-President  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation 
and  Arbitration,  he  had  a  great  intellect  as  well  as  a  great 
heart  which  drew  all  men  to  him.  Never  has  such  a 
concourse  been  seen  at  the  funeral  of  a  coal-miner.  The 
trains  from  Charleroi  and  the  Centre  poured  out  their 
crowds  and  the  roads  were  blocked.  In  the  little  house 
where  the  remains  were  laid,  the  stream  of  visitors  began 
at  noon,  and  was  broken  off  only  at  3  o'clock,  in  order 
not  to  delay  the  services. 

"  An  address  was  given  before  the  house  by  Mr.  Georges 
Warocqu£  as  follows  : 

" '  In  the  name  of  the  Management  of  the  Coal  Com- 
pany of  Bascoup,  I  am  come  to  express  our  sorrow  at 
the  loss  of  the  true  and  honest  man  whom  we  are  carrying 
to  his  last  home. 

"  '  Five  years  ago,  not  without  some  reasonable  doubts, 
we  decided  to  establish  a  Board  of  Conciliation  and  Ar- 
bitration. We  were  persuaded  that,  for  the  most  part, 
trouble  between  workmen  and  employers  is  due  to  mutual 
misunderstanding ;  that  such  misunderstanding  could  be 
cleared  up  by  systematic  relations  between  the  two 
parties ;  that,  coming  to  know  each  other  better,  they 


50     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

would  learn  to  respect  each  other,  and  that  thus  the 
suspicion  which  existed  between  them  would  be  dis- 
placed by  mutual  trust,  the  results  of  which  would  be 
happy  and  far-reaching.  We  knew,  however,  that  the 
results  of  our  action  depended  on  the  character  of  the 
representatives  chosen  by  the  workmen.  Their  choice 
was  most  fortunate. 

"'  At  the  first  election,  Joseph  Dandois  was  named  dele- 
gate by  the  workmen  of  Pit  No.  5  and  the  delegates  chose 
him  as  their  representative.  Then  the  Board  of  Concilia- 
tion named  him  their  Vice-President,  that  is,  President  of 
the  workingmen's  representatives.  He  fulfilled  the  duties 
of  this  office  from  the  establishment  of  the  Board  until 
his  death,  and  in  a  manner  to  justify  fully  the  confidence 
that  had  been  placed  in  him. 

"  '  If  he  deserved  well  of  those  whose  delegate  he  was,  the 
Management  of  the  colliery  desires  to  testify  also  to  the 
sense  of  justice,  to  the  exalted  judgment,  which  he  showed 
in  dealing  with  the  difficult  questions  which  the  Board 
has  had  to  consider.  Of  an  ardent  and  sensitive  nature, 
Dandois  brought  to  the  defence  of  the  interests  confided 
to  him  such  exceptional  intelligence,  such  energy,  such 
devotion  and  unselfishness  as  won  for  him  the  respect  of 
all. 

"  '  And  if  sometimes,  carried  away  by  his  temperament, 
he  was  a  little  too  impetuous  in  advocating  the  demands 
of  those  he  represented,  yet  he  recognized  with  perfect 
good  faith,  the  difficulties,  the  perplexities,  the  dangers 
with  which  the  proposed  measures  might  be  attended.  It 
has  seldom  been  given  to  a  man  in  so  humble  a  position 
in  life  to  receive  such  sincere  and  universal  tributes  of 
respect  and  it  will  be  a  supreme  consolation  for  his  family. 


CONCILIA  TION  IN  JBELGIUM.  5  I 

"  '  Adieu,  Dandois — You  leave  the  most  precious  inheri- 
tance, the  esteem  and  respect  which  your  name  has  won  ; 
your  young  son  will  not  be  deserted  ;  the  sympathy  and 
help  of  all  those  who  have  known  you  are  his.  .  .  . 

"  At  the  cemetery,  eight  addresses  were  given.  .  .  . 
Mr.  Julien  Weiler  spoke  as  follows: 

"  '  It  is  in  the  name  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation  and 
Arbitration  of  Bascoup,  that  I  have  come  to  add  my  voice 
to  those  which  have  already  deplored  the  great  misfortune 
which  throws  the  whole  community  into  mourning.  Mr. 
Guinotte,  President  of  the  Board,  detained  to  his  great 
regret  in  Brussels,  has  charged  me  to  render  this  last 
tribute  to  the  memory  of  our  esteemed  colleague. 

"  '  The  dangerous  calling  of  the  miner  has  taught  us  to 
dread  the  most  cruel  blows,  but  seldom  has  death  selected 
a  victim  with  such  deplorable  skill,  seldom  has  the  sorrow 
which  the  death  of  a  strong  man  cut  off  in  his  prime  must 
cause,  been  more  deeply  felt. 

" '  Others  have  spoken  and  will  speak  of  Dandois  as 
workman,  as  head  of  a  family,  as  citizen,  active  in  so 
many  ways  for  the  public  good  ;  I  shall  speak  only  of 
the  great  part  he  played  in  the  work  of  the  Board  he 
loved  so  much,  because  he  saw  in  it  the  hope  of  indus- 
trial peace,  which  is  essential  to  the  welfare  of  his  fellow 
workmen. 

"  '  Joseph  Dandois,  President  of  the  workingmen's 
representatives  in  the  Board  of  Conciliation  and  Arbitra- 
tion of  the  colliery  of  Bascoup,  was  a  man  well  fitted  for 
the  delicate  and  difficult  duties  of  that  office. 

" '  Intelligent,  well-prepared,  energetic  and  upright,  he 
inspired  respect  in  his  adversaries  and  confidence  in  his 
friends.  Ardent  in  the  pursuit  of  what  he  believed  to  be 


52      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

justice,  he  yet  had  that  uncommon  power  of  weighing 
the  facts  of  a  case  without  which  it  is  impossible  to  ac- 
complish anything  by  industrial  conciliation. 

"  '  For  five  years  we  have  seen  him  at  work,  placed  some- 
times in  very  difficult  situations,  where  he  was  severely 
tried,  as  every  man  must  be  who  resolutely  follows  where 
his  conscience  leads. 

" l  He  was  a  man. 

" '  I  have  sometimes  seen  him  sad  and  indignant,  when 
in  his  contests  with  injustice  he  feared  that  it  might  con- 
quer, but  I  have  n£ver  seen  him  quail,  and  I  have  never 
seen  him  desert  that  dignified  and  noble  attitude  which 
was  the  distinguishing  trait  of  his  character. 

"  'Ah  !  his  colleagues  may  well  mourn  his  loss !  Never 
— I  love  to  pay  this  tribute  to  him — never  will  his  fellow 
workmen  find  a  representative  more  true,  more  ready  to 
sink  his  own  interests  for  the  good  of  the  majority.  And 
never  will  the  Management  have  to  do  with  a  man  more 
to  be  trusted  or  with  a  more  loyal  interpreter  of  their 
real  meaning. 

"  '  Poor  Dandois  !  It  is  scarcely  a  week  since,  as  I 
consulted  with  him  about  the  approaching  anniversary 
of  the  Board  of  Conciliation,  I  saw  his  face  glow  with  the 
thought  that  we  were  to  celebrate  with  fitting  solemnity 
the  completion  of  the  fifth  year  of  the  institution  which 
he  so  jealously  defended  against  all  attacks.  Despite  his 
usual  self-control  and  reserve,  he  could  not  restrain  an  ex- 
clamation of  joy  at  the  thought  of  this  celebration  which 
would  have  been  a  slight  reward  for  five  years  of  zeal  the 
most  constant  and  courageous. 

"  '  And  now  we  stand  at  his  grave.  Pitiless  death  has 
slain  him  on  the  field  of  honor. 


CONCILIATION  IN  BELGIUM.  53 

" '  Adieu,  then,  true  and  loyal  colleague.  We  shall 
gather  without  you  the  harvest  we  have  worked  for  to- 
gether ;  we  shall  enjoy  without  you  the  happiness  which 
comes  from  duty  done  ;  but  your  memory  will  remain  with 
us,  and  when  we  recall  your  true  and  sympathizing  face, 
we  shall  recognize  the  part  that  belongs  to  you  in  the  re- 
sults of  our  common  efforts,  and  shall  praise  you  for  the 
great  example  you  leave  to  your  successors.' " 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CONCILIATION  IN  BELGIUM  (CONTINUED). 

THE    COLLIERY    OF    MARIEMONT. 

1888-1893. 

A  REPORT  was  published  in  1892  which  gives  a  resumf 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  Board  of  Conciliation  and  Arbi- 
tration for  the  colliery  of  Mariemont  (under  the  same 
Management  as  that  of  Bascoup)  during  the  years  1888, 
1889,  1890,  and  1891,  that  is  for  the  first  four  years  of  its 
existence.  Sample  extracts  from  this  report  will  give  a 
very  good  idea,  both  of  the  variety  of  subjects  brought 
before  the  Board,  and  of  the  manner  in  which  they  are 
discussed  and  disposed  of. 

On  the  2d  of  January,  1888,  at  the  ist  session,  "  the 
Board  adopted  its  constitution,  verified  the  credentials 
of  its  members,  discussed  and  adopted  without  important 
modification  the  rules  drawn  up  by  the  Management, 
proceeded  to  the  nomination  of  Presidents  and  Secre- 
taries," etc.,  etc. 

At  this  session  the  workmen,  by  one  of  their  representa- 
tives, expressed  much  gratification  at  the  establishment  of 
a  Board  of  Conciliation  and  Arbitration,  from  which  they 
expected  the  happiest  results,  and  they  returned  their 
warm  thanks  to  the  Management. 

At  the  4th  session,  on  April  9th,  among  other  things, 

54 


CONCILIATION  IN  BELGIUM.  55 

the  Board  "  decided  that  payment  to  individual  workmen 
should  be  tried,  and  if  the  results  were  satisfactory,  it 
should  be  adopted  in  place  of  payment  to  groups.  (It 
may  be  mentioned  that  the  attempt  seems  to  have  been  a 
success.)" 

At  the  session  on  May  14,  1888,  after  other  business  of 
various  kinds  had  been  disposed  of,  "  the  meeting  decided 
that  the  protests  against  certain  fines  which  had  been 
imposed,  should  be  considered  at  a  future  session,  after 
more  thorough  inquiry.  .  .  .  The  workmen  asked  if 
the  time  had  not  arrived  for  a  general  increase  of  wages ; 
the  newspapers  having  announced  an  improvement  in 
business,  the  workmen  wished  to  share  the  profits  with 
the  Company.  The  President  explained  to  them  that  the 
improvement  did  not  affect  the  coal  produced  at  Marie- 
mont,  but  he  promised  in  the  event  of  a  change  for  the 
better  that  the  workmen  should  be  the  first  to  gain  by 
it,  as  their  wages  would  be  at  once  increased." 

At  the  8th  session  on  August  3,  1888,  "the  Board 
considered  a  protest  of  the  workmen  at  the  pit  of  St. 
Arthur  against  a  fine  for  leaving  the  pit  in  too  great  haste, 
and,  finding  extenuating  circumstances,  decided  to  remit 
one  half  the  fine." 

At  the  loth  session  of  1888,  on  the  I9th  of  Novem- 
ber, after  other  business,  "  a  general  demand  for  an  in- 
crease of  wages  "  was  made.  Mr.  Guinotte,  the  President, 
said  that,  "  although  the  conditions  had  not  yet  changed, 
he  hoped  for  a  rise  in  prices  and  the  Management 
had  permitted  him  to  discount  the  rise,  and  to  grant  a 
general  increase  of  five  per  cent.  This  good  news  was 
received  with  much  pleasure  by  the  representatives  of  the 
workmen,  who  warmly  returned  their  thanks." 


$6     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

The  nth  session  was  held  on  the  loth  of  December, 
1888.  "  In  the  interval,  however,  a  strike  had  taken  place 
and  the  7th  Article  of  the  Agreement  had  been  broken. 

"  Mr.  Guinotte  invited  the  representatives  of  the  work- 
men to  explain  their  attitude  during  the  strike,  so  that  it 
might  be  known  if  each  one  had  done  his  duty. 

"The  representatives  of  the  workmen  informed  the 
Board  of  their  conscientious  efforts  to  prevent  the  stop- 
ping of  work ;  the  workmen  would  not  listen  to  them, 
however,  but  had  regarded  them  with  suspicion. 

"  After  this  explanation,  the  President  summed  up  the 
matter  by  saying  that  it  seemed  to  him  clear  that  the 
comparative  failure  of  the  representatives  of  the  workmen 
was  due  to  the  difficulty  of  their  position,  which  might  be 
attributed  both  to  the  ignorance  of  the  mass  of  the  work- 
men and  to  the  want  of  influence  of  their  representatives 
with  them.  He  concluded  that  it  was  necessary  to  in- 
crease this  influence,  perhaps  by  forming  trade  unions, 
perhaps  by  some  other  form  of  organization,  and  he  in- 
vited the  members  of  the  Board  to  consider  the  matter 
with  great  care. 

"  The  Board  recognized  the  necessity  of  deferring  the 
election  of  representatives  to  the  Board  to  allow  time  for 
the  excitement  to  abate." 

At  the  2d  session  of  1889,  "  the  Vice-President  asked 
in  the  name  of  the  workmen  that  fines  should  be  discon- 
tinued, saying  that  many  large  concerns  had  succeeded  in 
doing  away  with  them,  and  he  thought  it  could  be  done 
equally  well  at  Mariemont. 

"  Mr.  Guinotte  promised  that  the  matter  should  be  con- 
sidered, but  as  order  must  be  maintained  meantime,  he 
invited  the  workmen  to  consider  the  rules.  The  subject 


CONCILIATION  IN  BELGIUM.  57 

was  considered,  and  the  rules  adopted  with  some  slight 
modifications.  The  clause  fixing  the  fines  for  absence 
provoked  much  discussion,  but  was  nevertheless  adopted." 

At  the  6th  session  of  1889,  on  October  loth,  "the 
Vice-President  stated  that,  in  view  of  a  threatened  strike, 
he  had  asked  for  a  special  session  of  the  Board,  to  lay 
before  it  again  the  demand  for  an  increase  of  wages,  a 
demand  justified,  in  the  opinion  of  the  workmen,  by  the 
increase  in  the  selling  price  of  coal.  Mr.  Guinotte  said 
that  it  was  true  that  certain  colleries  had  increased  wages, 
but  it  was  those  which  sold  coke  ;  for  Mariemont  it  would 
be  impossible  without  a  rise  in  prices.  At  the  request  of 
the  workmen  he  would  present  their  demand  to  the  Man- 
agement, but  he  could  not  support  it,  as  under  the  cir- 
cumstances it  would  be  a  betrayal  of  the  interests  of  the 
stockholders,  which  it  was  his  duty  to  protect.  The 
representatives  of  the  workmen  did  not  conceal  the 
anxiety  which  this  refusal  caused  them." 

On  the  29th  of  October  at  the  /th  session,  "  Mr.  Guinotte 
announced  a  rise  of  price  after  Nov.  ist,  and  as  he  hoped 
this  measure  would  not  cause  a  falling  off  in  the  sales,  he 
had  the  pleasure  of  declaring  an  increase  of  5  %  in  wages, 
beginning  with  November.  If  the  sales  permitted,  a 
second  rise  would  be  made  in  December,  and  a  corre- 
sponding increase  in  wages,  as  the  Management  had 
granted  the  demand  of  the  workmen  for  an  increase 
of  wages  in  proportion  to  the  price  of  coal  up  to  the 
limit  of  20  %. 

"  The  representatives  said  they  would  communicate 
the  decision  to  the  workmen,  but  they  were  not  sure  how 
it  would  be  received,  as  the  men  had  expected  a  larger 
increase." 


58      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

On  the  29th  of  November  the  8th  session  of  1889  was 
held.  Work  had  been  stopped  from  the  4th  to  the  I  ith 
of  November,  the  workmen  having  demanded  that  the 
increase  of  wages  should  be  10$  and  that  afterwards  it 
should  be  proportional  to  the  selling  price  up  to  20  %. 
"  Mr.  Guinotte  had  answered  them  .  .  .  and  thought 
there  had  been  a  misunderstanding.  He  had  been  much 
pained  at  the  stopping  of  work,  which  had  showed  that 
the  men  were  not  ready  for  such  an  institution  as  the 
Board  of  Conciliation. 

"  The  Vice-President  said  that  he  had  done  his  best  to 
make  the  men  listen  to  reason.  Mr.  Guinotte  gave  credit 
to  the  representatives  of  the  men,  who  had  resolutely 
opposed  suspension  of  work.  Two  of  the  representatives 
stated  that  they  had  sent  in  their  resignations,  because 
they  disapproved  of  the  strike,  which  had  taken  place  in 
spite  of  all  their  efforts." 

At  the  3d  session  of  1890,  "  the  President  stated  that 
the  workmen  were  not  keeping  their  engagement  in  regard 
to  the  output,  which  had  diminished  considerably.  In 
order  to  keep  up  wages,  it  would  be  necessary  for  the 
workmen  to  exert  themselves  to  improve  matters." 

At  the  4th  session,  on  the  I9th  of  May,  after  the  regular 
business  had  been  disposed  of,  "  a  discussion  occurred 
between  the  representatives  of  the  Company  and  those 
of  the  workmen,  upon  the  diminution  of  the  output." 

At  the  close  of  the  8th  session  of  1890,  on  October 
27th,  "  the  Board  considered  a  claim  of  a  group  at  the 
pit  of  St.  Arthur,  whose  wages  had  been  very  small 
during  one  fortnight,  and  it  being  proved  that  this  was 
due  in  part  to  the  men  themselves,  the  compensation 
allowed  them  amounted  only  to  one  half  of  their  loss." 


CONCILIA  TION  IN  BELGIUM.  59 

The  loth  session  of  1890  was  held  on  November  1 7th. 
Among  other  business  the  President  called  the  attention 
of  the  Board  to  a  certain  rule  in  force  at  the  Bascoup 
Colliery  which  was  more  favorable  to  the  workmen  than 
the  corresponding  rule  at  Mariemont,  and  proposed  that 
it  be  adopted.  "  A  copy  of  the  rule  was  ordered  to  be  sent 
to  the  members  of  the  Board,  who  were  requested  to  study 
it  before  the  next  meeting." 

At  that  meeting  (on  December  15,  1890)  the  rule  was 
adopted,  and  an  increase  of  wages  was  also  given,  the 
second  in  1890. 

At  the  2d  session  of  the  Board  of  1891,  on  the  28th 
of  February,  the  Vice-President  said  that  "  in  case  the 
Belgian  workingmen  should  feel  obliged  to  make  a  general 
strike  to  support  their  demand  for  a  revision  of  the  Con- 
stitution, the  men  of  Mariemont  would  have  to  join  the 
movement,  but  he  begged  the  Management  to  regard  it 
merely  as  a  political  demonstration  ;  he  hoped  that  the 
Board  of  Conciliation  would  not  suffer  and  that  the  good 
relations  between  the  Company  and  the  men  would  not 
be  changed." 

At  the  4th  session,  on  April  2Oth,  the  question  of 
stopping  work  on  May  1st  (Labor  Day)  was  considered, 
and  the  President  stated  that  "  the  Management  did  not 
intend  to  take  any  stand  on  the  question,  but  would  con- 
sent, as  it  did  last  year,  not  to  impose  any  fine  for  absence 
upon  such  workmen  as  gave  notice  to  their  foremen  that 
they  should  not  report  for  work  that  day/' 

Among  other  matters  presented  was  a  complaint  from 
several  pits  that  the  lamp  oil  was  poor  and  the  Manage- 
ment promised  to  make  an  examination. 

At  the  5th  session  of  1891,  held  on  June  i5th,  "Mr. 


60     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

Guinotte  thought  it  necessary  to  address  the  workmen's 
representatives  upon  the  subject  of  the  late  suspension  of 
work.  They  had  notified  the  Board  that,  should  the  strike 
become  general,  the  workmen  of  Mariemont  would  join 
it,  but  the  strike  was  not  general,  not  having  extended 
beyond  the  collieries,  while  some  of  these  even  had  not 
joined  it.  Under  these  circumstances  the  Management 
could  not  but  regret  that  the  workmen  of  Mariemont 
should  have  felt  obliged  to  join  in  the  movement ;  they 
were  not  seriously  blamed,  however,  and  no  action  would 
be  taken  since  it  was  purely  a  political  movement. 

"  The  Vice-President  explained  that,  after  the  strike, 
some  men  formerly  employed  in  the  morning  were  put  to 
work  in  the  afternoon,  and  they  considered  this  as  an  un- 
derhand method  of  punishing  them.  Mr.  Guinotte  then 
read  a  report  of  the  inquiry  instituted  concerning  a  com- 
plaint to  the  same  effect  made  directly  to  the  Manage- 
ment— the  explanation  being  that  when  the  men  returned 
to  work,  the  morning  hours  were  rilled  first  and  conse- 
quently those  who  came  in  later  were  put  to  work  in  the 
afternoon.  This  explanation  was  satisfactory  to  the 
workmen,  who  asked,  however,  that  as  soon  as  possible 
certain  individuals  should  be  given  other  places,  be- 
cause of  the  inconvenience  caused  to  the  workingmen's 
associations  to  which  they  belonged,  by  their  hours  of 
work.  The  Management  promised  to  favor  any  arrange- 
ment which,  without  disorganizing  the  service,  would  suit 
the  workmen." 

At  this  meeting  also,  among  other  matters,  "  the  com- 
plaint of  a  workman  that  his  son  had  not  received  a  place 
to  which  he  had  a  right,  was  declared  without  foundation." 

In  the  minutes  of  the  7th  session  of   1891,  after  the 


CONCILIATION  IN  BELGIUM.  6 1 

record  of  much  business  transacted,  the  following  entries 
appear  under  the  head  of  miscellaneous  business  : 

"At  the  request  of  the  workmen,  inquiry  will  be  made 
as  to  a  means  of  avoiding  the  danger  of  the  transporting 
of  powder  by  workmen. 

"  A  clock  will  be  placed  at  La  Reunion. 

"  Inquiry  will  be  made  as  to  hours  of  leaving  the  pit  at 
Ste.  Henriette. 

"  At  St.  Arthur  the  number  of  engineers  will  be  doubled 
between  midnight  and  two  o'clock,  as  at  present  during 
the  rest  of  the  time  when  men  are  coming  up  from  the 
pits." 

At  the  8th  session  of  1891,  on  the  igth  of  October: 

"  Mr.  Guinotte  explained  to  the  meeting  how  inoppor- 
tune was  the  demand  of  the  men  of  the  Placard ;  he  re- 
called the  agreement  as  to  wages,  and  showed  by  a  diagram 
that  the  share  of  the  workmen  had  for  a  long  time  been 
higher  than  had  been  agreed,  and  he  asked  the  workmen 
to  verify  his  statements  for  themselves.  The  president  of 
the  workmen's  representatives  said  that  he  had  expected 
the  refusal,  as  he  had  already  satisfied  himself  of  the  situ- 
ation of  affairs  by  examining  the  diagram,  which  seemed 
to  him  entirely  correct,  and  that  he  only  brought  the  mat- 
ter before  the  meeting,  because  it  was  too  late  to  obtain 
the  consent  of  the  originators  to  withdraw  it. 

"  The  representative  of  the  Placard  men  explained  the 
matter,  which  proved  to  be  not  a  general  demand  for  an 
increase  of  wages,  but  only  a  claim  of  certain  groups  who 
had  had  adverse  conditions  to  work  under;  the  Board  then 
decided  that  the  claim  must  take  the  usual  course,  that  is, 
go  before  the  Chambre  d'Explications,  and  then,  if  there 
is  reason,  to  the  Board  of  Conciliation." 


62     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

At  the  gth  session  of  1891,  Nov.  23d  :  "  An  increase  of 
10  centimes  was  granted  to  certain  workmen  of  the 
Rivage,  whose  claim  had  been  presented  at  the  close  of 
the  last  session.  The  representative  of  these  men  returned 
their  thanks  and  then  called  the  attention  of  the  Man- 
agement to  the  suffering  that  would  follow  for  them  should 
the  river  be  closed  by  ice,  as  had  happened  the  year  be- 
fore. The  Management  promised  to  try  to  give  other 
work  to  the  most  needy,  in  case  this  should  happen. 

"  A  representative  of  the  workmen  having  stated  that 
certain  other  companies  grant  larger  benefits  to  their 
workmen  than  the  colliery  of  Mariemont,  the  Manage- 
ment explained  that  such  Companies  having  the  entire 
control  of  the  Benefit  Societies,  without  any  fixed  rules, 
it  might  be  that  in  certain  cases  they  did  more  than  was 
done  at  Mariemont,  where  all  transactions  were  according 
to  rules  established  by  the  Constitution  of  the  Benefit 
Society,  under  the  management  of  the  workmen 
themselves." 

It  seems  scarcely  necessary  to  point  out  that  the  ex- 
tracts given  above  from  the  minutes  of  the  Board  of  Con- 
ciliation (which,  in  full,  cover  25  printed  pages)  show  a 
sincere  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Management  of  the  Min- 
ing Company  to  deal  justly  by  the  working-men  in  its 
employ.  Even  where  the  men  have  by  unreasonable  de- 
mands or  even  by  unreasonable  action  given  the  Man- 
agement an  opportunity  to  take  advantage  of  them,  the 
only  motive  to  be  discovered  on  the  part  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  Management  is  the  desire  to  deal  justly  and 
to  bring  the  men  back,  by  argument  and  explanation,  to 
the  right  course. 

There  is  no  trace  of  the  natural  irritation  which  might 


CONCILIATION  IN  BELGIUM.  63 

be  expected  on  the  part  of  more  intelligent  men  in  au- 
thority at  unreasonable  conduct  on  the  part  of  ignorant 
men  placed  under  their  control ;  absolute  justice  and 
generosity  and  a  sincere  desire  to  do  right  and  to  persuade 
the  men  to  do  right,  are  the  only  feelings  to  be  discerned. 


In  a  private  letter,  dated  January  I,  1893,  Mr.  Weiler 
writes  in  regard  to  the  miners  of  the  collieries  of  Bascoup 
and  Mariemont : 

"  I  am  happy  to  say  that  our  working-people  continue 
to  show  the  most  admirable  spirit,  although  they  are 
being  subjected  to  a  very  severe  trial.  Wages  have 
fallen  25  per  cent,  and,  as  the  men  are  also  laid  off  one 
day  every  week,  their  income  is  reduced  37^-  per  cent. 
The  reduction  is  the  same  in  the  neighboring  collieries, 
and  yet  all  is  quiet.  This  only  shows  the  patience  of 
these  poor  miners,  who  are  sometimes  accused  of  making 
unlimited  demands" 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

CONCILIATION  BETWEEN   MASON  BUILDERS  AND   BRICK- 
LAYERS'  UNIONS  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

1885-1893. 

THE  long  strike  in  the  summer  of  1884  °f  the  Brick- 
layers' Unions  of  New  York  for  a  working  day  of  nine 
hours  is  a  memorable  epoch  in  the  history  of  both  em- 
ployers and  employees  throughout  the  United  States,  for 
it  inaugurated  a  movement  which  has  already  been  a  bless- 
ing to  hundreds  of  thousands,  and  which  must  go  on  with 
ever  increasing  good  results. 

The  Master  Masons  and  Carpenter  Builders  of  the  City 
had  already  in  the  winter  of  1884  talked  of  forming  an 
Association  among  themselves,  but  very  little  had  been 
accomplished,  and  the  movement  might  perhaps  have 
come  to  nothing  except  for  the  occurrence  of  the  strike 
which  forced  the  Master  Masons  into  a  Union  to  make  a 
stand  against  the  Bricklayers'  Unions. 

The  first  two  sections  of  the  Constitution  of  this  Asso- 
ciation read  as  follows. 


NAME. 


Section  i.  This  organization  shall  be  known  as  the  "Mason  Builders' 
Association  of  the  City  of  New  York." 

64 


MASON  BUILDERS  AND  BRICKLA  YERS*    UNIONS.      65 

OBJECT. 

Section  2.  The  objects  of  this  Association  shall  be  : 

First — To  further  the  interest  of  Mason  Builders,  and,  in  conjunction  with 
other  organizations  now  existing  (or  to  be  formed)  promote  the  interest  of 
the  building  trade  in  general. 

Second— To  adopt  such  measures  for  the  better  protection  of  employers 
and  employees  as  shall  lead  to  the  promotion  of  harmony  between  all 
parties  engaged  with  us  in  business,  to  arbitrate  all  differences  and  so  avoid 
the  great  evil  of  strikes,  which  unsettle  our  business  and  drive  capital  into 
other  channels  for  investment. 

Third — To  demonstrate  to  our  employees  that  our  interests  are  identical, 
consequently  all  laws  affecting  the  building  interest  must  be  considered 
jointly  if  they  are  to  operate  for  the  benefit  of  all. 

Beginning  in  this  spirit,  with  a  recognition  of  the  rights 
of  their  employees  and  the  assertion  of  their  own,  the 
Mason  Builders'  Association  entered  upon  its  corporate 
existence,  and  has  been  signalized  by  the  same  spirit  of 
justice  in  all  its  official  actions. 

The  strike  of  the  Bricklayers  in  the  summer  of  1884 
lasted  nearly  three  months,  and  its  consequences  con- 
tinued to  be  felt  after  it  was  nominally  ended.  On  Janu- 
ary 12,  1885,  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Mason 
Builders'  Association  recommended  that  a  Committee  on 
Conference  be  appointed  "with  a  view  to  the  adjustment 
of  the  differences  which  now  exist,  or  may  arise,  between 
the  members  of  this  Association  and  the  Labor  Unions." 
In  accordance  with  this  recommendation  the  Association 
appointed  "the  Executive  Committee  itself  to  confer 
with  the  Labor  Unions  and  settle  all  disputes." 

On  April  9,  1885,  the  Executive  Committee  reported 
two  conferences  with  delegates  representing  all  the  Brick- 
layers' Unions  of  the  City,  which  had  resulted  in  the 
following  propositions : 


66     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

"  i.  Wages  to  be  paid  by  the  hour. 

"  2.  The  formation  of  a  Joint  Conference  or  Arbitration 
Committee. 

"  3.  Rules  for  apprentices." 

The  Executive  Committee  also  submitted  the  copy  of 
a  long  letter  addressed  by  them  to  the  Bricklayers' 
Unions,  the  closing  sentence  of  which  reads  as  follows : 
"  We  fervently  hope  that  we  will  be  able  to  arrive  at  a 
conclusion,  admitting  that  all  laws  governing  our  trade 
must  be  established  by  joint  legislation  between  the 
Unions  and  the  Employers." 

On  April  2ist,  the  Executive  Committee  submitted  an 
agreement  entered  into  with  the  representatives  of  the 
Unions,  which  was  ratified  by  the  Association  of  Mason 
Builders.  This  was  also  ratified  by  the  Bricklayers' 
Unions  and  the  following  circular,  embodying  the  agree- 
ment, was  then  addressed  to  the  trade. 

NOTICE. 

According  to  agreement,  the  Joint  Arbitration  Committee  of  the  Master 
Builders'  Association,  and  the  Bricklayers'  Unions  of  New  York  City,  will 
meet  every  Wednesday  evening,  at  eight  o'clock,  at  No.  1321  Broadway,  to 
hear  grievances  and  settle  all  disputes  between  employers  and  employees. 
Complaints  will  be  received  either  in  person  or  by  communications. 

The  following  agreement  has  been  entered  into  by  the  above-named 
organizations,  respectively : 

NEW  YORK,  April  24,  1885. 

It  is  hereby  agreed  between  the  Master  Builders'  Association  of  New 
York,  and  the  Bricklayers'  Unions  Nos.  2,  33,  35,  and  37,  and  the  Amalga- 
mated German  Unions  of  the  City  of  New  York  : 

First.  That  the  journeymen  and  foremen  who  were  members  of  the 
unions  last  summer,  be  reinstated  on  payment  of  dues  to  date,  and  by  the 
latter,  of  dues  and  assessments  to  date,  which  shall  not  exceed  fifty  dollars. 

Second.  That  the  wages  of  bricklayers  from  May   i,  1885,  to  May  I, 


MASON  BUILDERS  AND  BRICKLAYERS'    UNIONS.      67 

1886,  shall  be  forty-two  cents  per  hour,  nine  hours  on  any  day  ;  Saturday, 
eight  hours,  with  eight  hours'  pay. 

It  is  particularly  requested  that  all  grievances  be  immediately  laid  before 
the  committee  in  order  to  avoid  all  difficulties. 

[Signed.]  MARC  EIDLIDTZ, 

Chairman. 
H.  OSCAR  COLE, 

Chairman. 

The  history  of  the  Joint  Arbitration  Committee  of  the 
Mason  Builders'  Association  and  the  Bricklayers'  Unions, 
as  shown  by  their  minutes,  is  interesting  and  suggestive. 

The  Committee  consisted  at  first  of  ten  members,  five 
from  the  Builders'  Association,  and  five  from  the  five 
Bricklayers'  Unions,  elected  for  terms  of  not  less  than 
three  months.  Weekly  meetings  were  to  be  held,  and 
special  meetings  at  the  call  of  the  Chair.  Three  from 
each  side  constituted  a  quorum.  Should  there  be  non- 
agreement  upon  any  question,  an  umpire  was  to  be  chosen, 
and  his  decision  was  to  be  binding  on  both  sides. 

At  the  weekly  meetings  matters  of  general  interest 
were  discussed  and  personal  grievances  of  individuals 
were  brought  up — sometimes  those  of  workmen  fined  un- 
justly, as  they  claimed,  by  the  Unions,  sometimes  those 
of  contractors  unfairly  dealt  with  by  the  workmen,  some- 
times those  of  workmen  paid  less  than  Union  rates  by 
members  of  the  Builders'  Association.  At  intervals  such 
entries  as  the  following  appear: 

"  A  general  interchange  of  views  on  a  variety  of  topics 
relating  to  the  trade." 

Then  follow  grievances  again:  Union  men  refusing  to 
pay  fines  imposed  ;  members  of  the  Association  employ- 
ing non-Union  men  ;  the  bricklayers  leaving  work  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Builders'  Association  for  higher  wages  (than 


68      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

Union  rates).  All  these  are  considered  and  referred  to 
the  proper  body  to  deal  with  its  own  members.  One 
entry  reads  :  "  A  general  discussion  was  held  on  Trade- 
Union  matters  and  a  review  of  the  situation  at  present." 
Finally,  the  subject  of  apprentices  comes  up,  and  so  ends 
the  work  of  the  first  eight  months  of  the  Joint  Arbitra- 
tion Committee  with,  as  is  evident, "  very  good  feeling  on 
both  sides,"  and  there  can  be  no  question  that  the  mutual 
interchange  of  views  must  have  wonderfully  cleared  the 
minds  of  the  delegates  on  both  sides. 

In  1886,  after  many  meetings  and  discussions  and  refer- 
ences back  and  forth  to  the  Builders'  Association  and  the 
Bricklayers'  Unions,  finally,  on  March  24th,  the  agreement 
for  the  year  as  to  hours,  wages,  etc.,  was  ratified,  with  the 
important  additions  that  no  strike  is  to  be  declared  "  until 
the  matter  in  dispute  shall  have  been  submitted  to  the 
Joint  Arbitration  Committee  for  settlement,"  and  "  that 
no  member  of  the  Union  shall  be  discharged  for  inquiring 
after  the  cards  of  the  men  working  upon  any  job  of  a 
member  of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association." 

During  1886,  the  number  of  delegates  from  each  side 
was  increased  to  six  and  the  quorum  to  four  members 
from  each  side ;  the  weekly  meetings  seem  to  have  been 
given  up  for  want  of  business,  but  there  were  regular  meet- 
ings and  several  special  meetings,  where  complaints  of 
various  kinds  were  presented,  one,  twice  repeated,  against 
a  special  firm  for  paying  low  wages.  In  regard  to  this,  a 
committee  was  appointed  to  wait  on  them  and  state 
that  "  the  Builders'  Association  cannot  support  any  mem- 
ber in  paying  anything  but  Union  wages,  and  they  must 
take  the  consequences." 

In  September  a  special  meeting  was  called  to  ask  the 


MASON  BUILDERS  AND   BRICKLAYERS'    UNIONS.      69 

Mason  Builders'  Association  to  bring  "  influence  to 
bear  on  the  Boss  Stone  Cutters  to  stop  the  strike  of  the 
stone  rubbers  and  cutters." 

In  January,  1887,  at  one  °f  the  meetings  a  "  discussion 
of  Trade  matters  "  was  held. 

In  February,  1887,  one  °f  the  Bricklayers'  delegates 
asked  if  the  Mason  Builders'  Association  had  "  joined  the 
Boss  Association  of  the  Building  Trades  in  antagonism 
to  the  Knights  of  Labor  or  to  the  Plumbers'  Associa- 
tions," and  was  assured  by  one  of  the  Builders'  Associa- 
tion that  "  owing  to  the  friendly  relations  existing  between 
the  Association  and  their  employees  the  Association 
had  passed  a  resolution  not  to  take  part  in  the  move- 
ment." The  Union  delegates  in  their  turn  stated  that 
they  were  not  controlled  by  orders  of  the  Central  Labor 
Union. 

The  agreement  for  1887  was  made  with  little  friction, 
and  followed  almost  exactly  the  terms  of  that  for  1886. 

Almost  the  only  noteworthy  action  during  the  year 
was  a  letter  to  the  Association  of  Building  Material 
Dealers  as  to  the  brick  cartmen's  difficulties. 

In  March  of  this  year  at  the  first  annual  meeting 
of  the  National  Association  of  Builders,  Mr.  John  J. 
Tucker,  of  New  York,  spoke  as  follows :  "  In  our  efforts 
for  the  better  promotion  of  the  interests  of  all,  we 
have  established  an  arbitration  through  a  conference 
held  with  our  men,  and  by  that  arbitration  we  cover  all 
disputes  that  may  arise  in  the  prosecution  of  our  work. 
For  two  or  three  years  past  that  process  has  been  going 
on,  and  has  worked  very  satisfactorily  to  both  sides.  We 
have  monthly  meetings,  at  which  the  members  on  the 
other  side  meet  with  us,  and  any  dispute  that  may  arise 


7<D     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

during  the  progress  of  our  employment  is  brought  there 
for  adjudication,  and  every  case  that  has  arisen  so  far  has 
been  met  and  adjusted  without  any  difficulty  on  either  side, 
and  perfect  harmony  exists.  I  look  upon  the  very  fact 
of  our  coming  now  to  this  National  Convention  as  being 
the  commencement  of  a  spirit  of  unity  that  is  likely  to 
pervade  our  land,  and  that  the  success  of  the  movement 
will  grow,  and  from  it  I  think  you  will  find  that  the 
condition  of  our  mechanics  will  be  very  much  improved 
through  the  incentive  that  will  be  given  from  this  body." 

In  February  and  March,  1888,  there  were  many  meet- 
ings of  the  Joint  Committee  to  discuss  the  agreement 
for  the  year,  which  was  finally  adopted  in  the  old  form 
with  the  following  addition  :  "  Except  in  case  of  neces- 
sity no  work  shall  be  done  between  5  and  6  P.M.,  on  five 
days  of  the  week,  or  between  4  and  5  P.M.  on  Saturday, 
and  all  overtime  shall  be  paid  at  double  rate." 

The  agreement  was  ordered  printed. 

In  February,  1889,  the  same  agreement  as  that  of  1888 
was  adopted,  and,  in  May  of  that  year,  a  definition  of 
"  overtime  "  in  the  case  of  two  gangs  was  adopted. 

A  special  meeting  was  called  in  November,  1889,  when 
a  complaint  against  a  member  of  the  Builders'  Associa- 
tion for  working  for  a  company  employing  non-union 
men  was  received,  and  a  resolution  was  passed  that  the 
firm  be  asked  to  try  to  have  the  non-union  men  dismissed. 

In  February,  1890,  wages  of  fifty  cents  an  hour  were 
asked  for ;  reports  were  made  by  the  representatives  of 
the  two  parties  to  the  Association  and  to  the  Unions  re- 
spectively, and  it  was  not  until  March  6th  that  the 
demand  was  granted  and  the  agreement  ratified. 

Nothing  of  interest  occurred  during  the  year  1890,  and 


MASON  BUILDERS  AND  BRICKLAYERS'    UNIONS.      *J\ 

at  the  meeting  in  January,  1891,  the  Union  delegates 
were  not  prepared  to  discuss  the  agreement  for  that  year. 

There  were  two  meetings  in  February,  but  it  was  not 
until  March  I3th  that  the  demands  of  the  Bricklayers' 
Unions  (now  numbering  eight,  all  represented  on  the 
Committee,  which  also  had  eight  delegates  from  the 
Builders'  Association,  with  five  from  each  side  to  form  a 
quorum)  were  presented  as  follows : 

"  An  eight  hours'  working  day  ;  50  cents  an  hour. 

"  Pay  day  on  Saturday." 

Two  meetings  in  March,  with  1 5  members  present  at 
the  first  and  16  at  the  second,  finally  brought  about  an 
agreement  in  which  the  eight  hours'  day  was  adopted,  but 
not  the  weekly  pay  day. 

There  was  very  little  business  of  importance  during  the 
year  1891,  and  the  meetings  were  infrequent.  On  July 
3Oth  a  special  meeting  was  called  to  hear  a  charge  against 
a  builder,  that  he  had  paid  less  than  the  Union  wages, 
but  at  the  meeting  the  charge  was  withdrawn. 

On  January  28,  1892,  at  the  regular  monthly  meeting, 
there  was  "  a  general  talk  relative  to  apprentices." 

In  February,  with  twelve  members  present,  the  pro- 
posed agreement  for  the  year  was  read,  but  no  action 
taken. 

In  March  there  was  a  special  meeting  to  hear  a  com- 
plaint against  a  certain  firm  that  bricklayers  were  working 
from  five  to  six  P.M.  without  authority  from  the  Unions, 
and  the  following  day  a  letter  was  received  from  the  firm, 
promising  to  keep  to  the  terms  of  the  agreement. 

On  March  i/th,  on  March  24th,  on  April  7th,  the 
agreement  for  the  year  was  considered,  and  finally  signed 
by  all  present  excepting  the  delegates  of  two  Unions, 


72      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

who  said  they  had  no  authority  to  sign  without  a  special 
vote  of  their  Unions.  A  resolution  was  thereupon  passed 
that  these  Unions  be  notified  that  "delegates  without 
power  are  useless." 

The  agreement  was  as  follows  : 

NEW  YORK,  April  yth,  1892. 

It  is  hereby  agreed  to  by  the  Mason  Builders'  Association  of  New  York  City, 
and  the  Bricklayers'  Unions  Nos.  4,  7,  n  33,  34,  35,  37  and  47  of  New 
York  City,  members  of  the  Bricklayers'  and  Masons'  International  Union  : 

I. 

That  the  wages  of  the  Bricklayers  from  May  I,  1892,  to  May  i,  1893,  be 
fifty  cents  per  hour,  eight  hours,  six  days  in  the  week,  and  that  the  hours  of 
labor  be  from  8  A.M.  until  5  P.M.,  with  one  hour  for  lunch. 

II. 

The  Unions,  as  a  whole  or  single  Union,  shall  not  order  any  strike 
against  the  members  of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association,  collectively 
or  individually,  nor  shall  any  number  of  Union  men  leave  the  works  of  a 
member  of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association,  before  the  matter  in  dispute  is 
brought  before  the  Joint  Arbitration  Committee  for  settlement. 

III. 

That  no  member  of  the  Unions  shall  be  discharged  for  inquiring  after  the 
cards  of  the  men  working  upon  any  job  of  a  member  of  the  Mason  Builders' 
Association,  nor  will  the  Walking  Delegate  be  interfered  with  when  visiting 
any  building  under  construction, 

IV. 

Except  in  case  of  extreme  necessity,  no  work  shall  be  done  between  7  and 
8  o'clock  A.M.  and  5  and  6  o'clock  P.M.  on  six  days  in  the  week,  and  all  over- 
time shall  be  paid  a  double  rate.  Overtime  means  all  time  between  5  P.M. 
on  Saturday  and  8  A.M.  on  Monday  ;  also  all  time  between  5  P.M.  and  8 
A.M.  on  other  days,  and  the  following  legal  holidays  :  Washington's  Birth- 
day',  Decoration  Day,  Independence  Day,  Labor  Day  and  Christmas  Day. 

V. 

That  the  members  of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association  shall  do  their  own 
fireproofing. 


MASON  BUILDERS  AND  BRICKLAYERS'    UNIONS. 


VI. 

That  Bricklayers  be  paid   on  Saturday,  before  5.30  P.M.  once  every  two 
weeks. 

VII. 

That  the  Arbitration  Committee  meet  on  the  fourth  Thursday  in  every 
month,  or  at  the  call  of  the  Chair  on  either  side. 


W.  S.  HARRISON,  Chairman.  ~\ 
ROBT.  L.  DARRAGH, 
CHARLES  ANDRUSS, 
ALEX.  BROWN,  JR., 
WARREN  A.  CONOVER, 
JOSEPH  SCHAEFFLER,  JR., 
TIMOTHY  MAHONEY, 
CHAS.  A.  COWEN, 
JOHN  J.  TUCKER. 


S3 


47  WILLIAM  J.DALY,  Chairman. " 
4  WILLIAM  STEWART, 
7  JOHN  DOYLE, 

II  DlEDRICH   HOLSTE, 

33  JOHN  J.  BANIGAN, 

34  HENRY  O.  COLE, 

35  JOHN  MEISTER, 

37  BENJAMIN  F.  KING. 


On  May  26th,  "  a  general  talk "  was  held  at  the 
monthly  meeting. 

On  September  22d  and  2Qth  certain  complaints  of 
workmen  against  employers  were  considered,  and  the 
minutes  of  the  Joint  Committee  of  Mason  Builders  and 
Bricklayers  for  the  year  1892  are  closed  without  even  a 
mention  of  the  strikes  and  lock-outs  which  in  every  other 
branch  of  the  Building  Trade  in  New  York  City  had  been 
a  constant  source  of  trouble  throughout  several  months. 

One  most  noteworthy  fact  in  the  history  of  this  Joint 
Committee  is  that  never,  during  the  eight  years  of  its 
existence,  has  it  been  necessary  to  call  upon  an  umpire  to 
decide  a  question  coming  before  the  Committee.  This, 
in  itself,  speaks  volumes  for  the  justice  of  the  men  repre- 
senting the  two  bodies  interested. 

The  gains  for  the  workmen  since  the  establishment  of 
the  Joint  Committee  are  to  be  seen  by  comparing  the  first 


74     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

agreement,  for  the  year  1885,  with  that  for  the  year  1892. 
Besides  minor  changes,  wages  have  been  increased  from 
42  cents  an  hour  to  50  cents  an  hour,  and  the  working 
day  has  been  decreased  from  nine  to  eight  hours.  The 
gains  for  the  employers  are  to  be  judged  by  their  satis- 
faction with  the  results.  The  gains  for  the  community 
can  scarcely  be  computed. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

PROGRESS  OF  CONCILIATION  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY. 

1892. 

THE  spectacle  of  successful  conciliation  between  the 
eight  Bricklayers'  Unions  and  the  Mason  Builders'  Associa- 
tion of  New  York  during  the  seven  years  from  1885  to 
1892  finally  began  to  attract  the  attention  of  men  in 
other  trades,  but  the  first  attempt  to  follow  the  excellent 
example  was  made  by  unskilled  laborers,  the  hod-carriers 
and  diggers. 

On  December  10,  1891,  a  letter  was  received  by  the 
Mason  Builders'  Association  from  the  "  Officers  of  the 
General  Council  of  the  Laborers'  Union,"  in  regard  to  a 
Committee  appointed  by  that  Union  to  meet  a  Committee 
of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  what  was  practically  to  be  a  Board  of  Concilia- 
tion. The  Standing  Committee  on  Arbitration  of  the 
Mason  Builders'  Association  was  directed  to  meet  with 
the  Committee  from  the  Laborers'  Union,  and  on  April 
28,  1892,  the  meeting  was  held. 

Being  asked  to  state  their  wishes,  one  of  the  Laborers' 
Committee  said  that  their  object  was  "  to  arrange  an 
agreement  with  the  Mason  Builders'  Association,  such  as 
existed  between  the  Builders  and  Bricklayers."  He  stated 
that  the  Laborers'  Union  was  independent,  consisting  of 

75 


j6     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

eleven  divisions,  "  representing  the  Italian,  German,  Irish, 
and  Colored  element,"  and  they  desired  to  sign  an  agree- 
ment to  work  for  30  cents  an  hour.  He  said  :  "  The  gen- 
tlemen forming  the  Laborers'  Committee  would  consist  of 
a  representative  of  the  different  national  divisions,  and 
they  were  empowered  to  sign  such  an  agreement  as  might 
be  made  at  the  above  rate  of  wages  at  any  time." 

This  being  reported  to  the  Mason  Builders'  Association 
on  May  3d,  the  Arbitration  Committee  was  directed  "  to 
enter  into  the  agreement  proposed  with  the  Labor  Unions 
of  this  City,  after  the  said  Unions  have  given  our  Com- 
mittee substantial  evidence  of  their  being  properly  organ- 
ized to  enter  into  such  an  agreement  on  the  same  basis  as 
the  one  now  existing  between  the  Bricklayers'  and  the 
Mason  Builders'  Association." 

On  May  loth,  the  Arbitration  Committee  met  the 
eleven  delegates  from  the  various  divisions  of  the  Labor- 
ers' Union,  and  the  following  resolution  was  presented  by 
the  latter  for  the  information  of  the  meeting  : 

"NEW  YORK,  May  8th,  1892. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Council  of  the  Laborers'  Union 
Protective  Society,  the  following  order  was  decided  on : 

"  ist.  That  our  Union  be  recognized  and  our  delegate 
be  admitted  on  all  jobs. 

"  2d.  That  the  rate  of  wages  shall  be  30  cents  an  hour 
for  eight  hours  per  day. 

"  The  idea  of  this  is  to  avoid  all  manner  of  strikes. 
That  a  friendly  feeling  shall  exist  between  the  employer 
and  the  employee." 

After  an  examination  of  the  credentials  of  the  delegates, 
an  agreement  was  drafted,  adopted,  and  signed  as  follows : 


PROGRESS  OF  CONCILIATION  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY. 


NEW  YORK,  May  10,  1892. 

It  is  hereby  agreed  to  by  the  Mason  Builders'  Association  of  New  York 
City  and  the  Laborers'  Union  Protective  Society,  consisting  of  the  following 
divisons,  Nos.  i,  2,  3,  4,  5,  7,  8,  9,  10  and  n  : 

I. 

That  the  wages  of  the  masons'  laborers  from  May  14,  1892,  to  May  i, 
1893,  be  thirty  cents  per  hour,  eight  hours,  six  days  in  the  week,  and  that 
the  hours  of  labor  be  from  8  A.M.  until  5  P.M.,  with  one  hour  for  lunch. 

II. 

The  divisions,  as  a  whole  or  single  division,  shall  not  order  any  strike 
against  the  members  of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association,  collectively  or  in- 
dividually, nor  shall  any  number  of  Union  men  leave  the  works  of  a  member 
of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association  before  the  matter  in  dispute  is  brought 
before  the  Joint  Arbitration  Committee  for  settlement. 

III. 

That  no  member  of  the  divisions  shall  be  discharged  for  inquiring  after 
the  cards  of  the  men  working  upon  any  job  of  a  member  of  the  Mason 
Builders'  Association. 

IV. 

That  the  masons'  laborers  be  paid  on  Saturday  before  5.30  P.M.  once  every 
two  weeks. 

V. 

That  a  meeting  of  the  Arbitration  Committee  can  be  called  by  order  of 
the  Chairman. 


W.  S.  HARRISON, 
CHARLES  ANDRUSS, 
WARREN  A.  CONOVER, 
ALEX.  BROWN,  Jr., 
CHAS.  A.  COWEN, 

JOSEPH  SCHAEFFLER,  Jr. 


4.  P.  J.  KELLY, 

1.  MATTHEW  FINERTY, 

2.  PAT.  CUMMINS, 


JAMES  BRENNAN, 
JOSEPH  KIERNAN, 


PATRICK  WINTERS, 
9.  GUST.  MEANFRED, 

10.  F.  RAU, 

11.  JOHN NINI GOVANNI.^ 


fe-| 


78      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

Meanwhile  another  body  of  working-men  had  come  to 
the  Mason  Builders'  Association  for  help  in  their  efforts 
to  secure  industrial  peace.  On  March  10,  1892,  a  Com- 
mittee of  Hoisting  Engineers  appeared  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Association  and  stated  that  they  had  "  formed  an  in- 
dependent organization  to  prevent  strikes,"  and  asked  the 
Mason  Builders  to  "  aid  them  to  strengthen  the  stand 
they  had  taken." 

This  the  Association  did  by  passing  a  resolution  that 
they  were  "  in  favor  of  an  independent  organization  of 
Hoisting  Engineers,  and  that  the  Secretary  notify  the 
Hod  Elevator  Companies  of  New  York  City  to  that  effect." 

Some  months  elapsed  before  any  result  followed,  but 
after  some  further  action  by  the  Association,  "  to  encour- 
age the  Hod  Hoisting  Employers,"  it  was  reported  on 
August  1 2th  that  the  latter  had  organized  an  Association, 
that  their  Engineers  would  probably  organize,  and  the 
two  bodies  thus  formed  would  "  legislate  their  own 
affairs,"  and  further,  "  in  case  the  representatives  of  the 
Engineers  and  of  the  new  organization  could  not  agree 
on  a  point  that  they  might  have  in  arbitration,  that 
a  Mason  Builder  should  be  selected  as  umpire." 

On  December  8,  1892,  at  a  regular  meeting  of  the 
Mason  Builders'  Association,  a  communication  was  re- 
ceived from  the  Secretary  of  the  Association  of  the  Hod- 
Hoisting  Employers,  to  the  effect  that  they  "  had  made 
an  agreement  with  the  United  Association  of  Engineers, 
in  which  they  had  endeavored  to  bring  about  a  perfect 
understanding  between  the  different  parties  concerned,  in 
relation  to  hours  of  work,  scale  of  wages,  sympathetic 
strikes,  etc.,  and  thought  they  had  succeeded." 

The  Secretary  of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association  was 


PROGRESS  OF  CONCILIATION  IN  NEW  YORK  CITY.      79 

"  instructed  to  write  to  both  parties  concerned, 

that  this  Association  congratulates  them  on  the  agreement 

they  have  so  wisely  entered  into." 

This,  however,  was  not  the  only  good  office  for  other 
trades  performed  by  the  Association  in  1892. 

During  the  months  of  June  and  July,  the  Dealers  in 
Building  Materials  had  had  much  trouble  with  their  em- 
ployees, "  Walking  Delegates  "  having  interfered  with 
their  business  in  various  ways.  During  July  the  Mason 
Builders'  Association  had  voted  to  support  them  in  their 
efforts  to  free  themselves  from  outside  dictation,  and  at 
the  meeting  of  August  I2th,  a  letter  from  the  Secretary 
of  the  Building  Material  Dealers'  Association  was  read, 
informing  them  that  the  strike  had  been  declared  off,  and 
their  men  "  had  asked  to  be  re-instated,  subject  to  our  in- 
structions and  directions,  and  regardless  of  any  Union." 

To  this  letter  a  most  admirable  answer  was  returned, 
remarkable  for  its  moderation  and  wisdom.  The  Associa- 
tion of  Mason  Builders  began  by  expressing  interest  in 
the  successful  efforts  made  by  the  Dealers'  Organization 
"  against  the  unjust,  arbitrary  action  of  the  Board  of 
Walking  Delegates,"  and  continued :  "  We  have  only 
one  fear  now  that  success  has  crowned  your  efforts,  and 
that  is  that  there  may  be  a  tendency  on  the  part  of  some 
members  of  your  organization,  since  the  labor  that  you 
now  employ  is  not  organized,  to  cut  down  the  rate  of 
wages  in  order  to  re-imburse  yourselves  for  some  of  the 
trouble  and  loss  which  you  have  incurred.  Although 
this  action  would  be  natural,  and  to  an  extent,  justifiable, 
we  feel  it  our  duty  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact  that 
any  action  of  this  kind  will  do  much  to  drive  the  men 
into  the  Central  Organization  again,  and  make  a  strong 


80     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

excuse  for  the  existence  of  the  Walking  Delegate.  We 
would,  therefore,  respectfully  suggest  that  now  you  have 
shown  your  strength  and  the  Union  is  disrupted  and  you 
yourselves  are  thoroughly  organized,  that  you  will  pro- 
ceed to  organize  the  men  now  in  your  employ,  and  after 
that  appoint  a  Committee,  and  legislate  with  them  on  the 
same  general  lines  as  is  now  being  done  in  our  own  body. 
Unless  such  action  be  taken,  we  fear  that  your  efforts 
will  have  secured  only  temporary  peace,  and  that  within 
a  reasonable  length  of  time,  new  strikes  and  new  difficul- 
ties will  be  inaugurated.  .  .  ." 

The  good  wishes  of  all  must  be  with  the  Mason  Builders' 
Association  of  the  City  of  New  York  in  their  efforts  to 
bring  peace  between  the  warring  factions  of  the  building 
trades,  among  whom,  as  reported  by  the  Board  of  Arbi- 
tration of  the  State,  there  were  200  strikes  and  lock-outs 
in  New  York  and  Brooklyn  during  the  summer  of  1892. 


CHAPTER  X. 

CONCILIATION  BETWEEN  MASON   BUILDERS  AND  BRICK- 
LAYERS IN  CHICAGO. 

1887-1893. 

THE  spring  and  summer  of  1887  were  signalized  in  the 
City  of  Chicago  by  "  labor  troubles  "  which  included  not 
only  all  the  building  trades,  but  all  the  trades  concerned 
in  the  manufacture  of  building  materials.  There  was  a 
complicated  succession  of  strikes  and  lock-outs,  which 
lasted  from  the  end  of  April  until  July  I  ith,  and  caused  a 
loss  in  wages  and  profits  to  contractors  of  not  less  than 
$4,000,000,  as  computed  in  the  pamphlet  published  in 
1887  under  the  title  "  30,000  Locked  Out."  There  were 
nineteen  different  trades  or  subdivisions  of  trades  in- 
volved, and  during  nine  weeks  all  building  was  brought  to 
a  stand-still. 

It  was  evident  that  the  "  Labor  Question  "  in  Chicago 
had  assumed  very  serious  proportions,  and  that  the  real 
cause  of  the  troubles  of  1887  was  the  state  of  feeling  en- 
gendered by  years  of  difference  between  employers  and 
employed,  not  the  special  occurrences  which  precipitated 
the  contest. 

The  Master  Masons  and  Builders  were  the  leaders  on 
the  side  of  the  employers,  and  their  position  was  right 

6  81 


82     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

from  the  beginning,  so  far  as  can  be  judged  from  their 
official  declarations  published  in  the  pamphlet  referred  to. 

Early  in  May  (after  the  United  Order  of  American 
Bricklayers  and  Stone  Masons  had,  without  notice  to  the 
Builders,  decided  that  the  pay  day  should  be  changed 
from  Tuesday  to  Saturday)  the  first  official  communica- 
tion from  the  Association  of  Master  Masons  and  Builders 
contained  the  following  sentence  :  "  We  submit  to  your 
consideration  that  a  subject  of  this  kind  can  hardly  be 
'  fixed  '  by  a  resolution  in  a  meeting  of  employees,  but 
should  be  referred  to  and  properly  discussed  by  a  Joint 
Committee  of  both  employers  and  employees  before  action 
is  taken."  Thus  the  right  principle  was  annunciated  from 
the  very  outset  by  the  Master  Masons,  viz.:  that  matters 
of  common  interest  to  both  employers  and  employees 
cannot  be  settled  by  one  party  only,  but  must  be  dis- 
cussed by  representatives  of  both  parties  before  a  decision 
can  be  reached.  This  seems  to  be  a  self-evident  proposi- 
tion, but  it  took  more  than  two  months  of  idleness  and 
contention  before  it  was'acted  upon. 

On  another  matter  also  the  Master  Masons'  Association 
was  right  from  the  beginning.  They  never  set  themselves 
against  Labor  Unions  as  such,  but,  on  the  contrary,  on 
May  I /th,  they  adopted  a  platform  of  principles,  in  which 
the  following  declaration  of  the  National  Association  of 
Builders,  together  with  others,  was  re-affirmed,  as  "  fun- 
damental principles  upon  which  must  be  based  any  and 
all  efforts  at  settlement  of  the  now  existing  lock-out  in 
building  trades: " 

".  .  .  We  recognize  that  there  are  many  opportu- 
nities for  good  in  associations  of  workmen,  and  while 
condemning  and  opposing  improper  actions  upon  their 


MASON  BUILDERS  AND  BRICKLAYERS    IN  CHICAGO.      83 

part,  we  will  aid  and  assist  them  in  all  just  and  honorable 
purposes ;  .  .  . 

Another  most  important  declaration  of  the  National 
Association  of  Builders,  re-affirmed  at  this  crisis  by  the 
Chicago  Association  of  Master  Masons  and  Builders,  was 
the  following : 

"  We  affirm  that  absolute  personal  independence  of  the 
individual  to  work  or  not  to  work,  to  employ  or  not  to 
employ,  is  a  fundamental  principle  which  should  never  be 
questioned  or  assailed  ;  that  upon  it  depends  the  security 
of  our  whole  social  fabric  and  business  prosperity,  and 
that  employers  and  workmen  should  be  equally  interested 
in  its  defense  and  preservation." 

On  June  I2th,  the  Master  Masons  issued  an  address  to 
their  former  employees,  the  spirit  of  which  is  shown  by 
the  following  extracts : 

".  .  .  To  those  of  you  who  believe  in  arbitration  as 
a  better  mode  of  redressing  grievances  or  ad  justing  differ- 
ences than  the  strike  or  lock-out,  to  those  of  you  who  are 
old  enough  to  remember  that  the  members  of  our  organi- 
zation have  all  been  journeymen  bricklayers  and  stone 
masons,  that  there  are  none  among  us  who  may  not  be 
compelled  to  take  up  tools  again,  nor  any  among  you 
who  may  not  at  any  time  become  employers,  and  that 
consequently  there  are  no  questions  concerning  one  branch 
which  are  not  of  interest  to  the  other — to  you  we  address 
ourselves.  .  .  .  We  are  not  opposed  to  all  Unions.  In 
the  second  paragraph  of  our  platform  we  recognize  the 
right  of  organization  among  workmen  for  all  just  and 
honorable  purposes.  But  we  are  opposed  to  the  methods 
employed  by  the  present  Unions.  In  all  directions  brute 
force  is  the  foundation  of  the  present  Union.  This  is 


84      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION'  AND  CONCILIATION. 

wrong.  Brute  force  can  only  be  opposed  by  brute  force ; 
the  strike  on  the  one  hand  by  the  lock-out  on  the  other,  re- 
sulting in  loss  and  suffering  to  both,  and  without  any  per- 
manent results,  for  no  matter  which  side  is  successful,  the 
only  thing  proven  is  that  it  had  the  strongest  organization, 
not  that  its  position  is  right.  Strikes  and  lock-outs  with  all 
the  train  of  resulting  evils  can  only  be  prevented  by  organi- 
zation among  both  workmen  and  employers,  both  recogniz- 
ing the  same  fundamental  principles,  and  agreeing  to  refer 
any  question  of  temporary  policy,  such  as  the  amount 
of  wages  to  be  paid,  the  number  of  hours  to  be  worked, 
pay  day,  or  any  grievances  or  differences  arising  in  the 
future,  to  a  Joint  Committee  of  Arbitration.  .  .  . 

"  .  .  .  To  sum  up, — form  a  Union  on  the  same 
platform  we  uphold,  and  whenever  one  hundred,  yea, 
fifty,  members  shall  have  enrolled  themselves,  we  will 
gladly  recognize  it  and  appoint  members  to  serve  on  a  Joint 
Committee  to  have  charge  of  all  matters  of  mutual  in- 
terest. .  .  .  " 

During  the  month  of  June  repeated  attempts  were 
made  to  settle  the  differences  between  the  Bricklayers 
and  the  Master  Masons,  but  without  success,  until  on  June 
29th,  the  Master  Masons'  Association  appointed  a  Com- 
mitte  on  Arbitration  consisting  of  five  members  to  meet 
with  a  similar  Committee  appointed  by  the  Union.  On 
July  1st  these  two  Committees  met,  the  first  business 
being  to  select  an  umpire,  the  eleventh  member  of  what 
was  to  be  a  "  Joint  Committee  of  Arbitration."  The 
selection  was  made  after  several  sessions ;  Judge  Tuley  of 
the  Superior  Court  of  Cook  County  was  unanimously 
chosen,  and  on  Monday,  July  4th,  the  whole  Committee 
met  and  its  real  work  began. 


MASON  BUILDERS  AND  BRICKLAYERS   IN  CHICAGO.     85 

The  matters  discussed  included  all  the  questions  which 
had  occasioned  strikes  and  lock-outs  for  the  previous  five 
years.  On  July  8th,  after  four  days'  session,  the  Joint 
Committee  agreed  upon  a  unanimous  report,  which  was 
submitted  to  the  Bricklayers'  Union  and  the  Master 
Masons'  Association  for  ratification,  and  on  July  nth, 
1887,  the  work  of  building,  which  had  been  suspended 
in  Chicago  for  nine  weeks,  was  resumed,  and  has 
never  been  interrupted  since  that  day  by  a  lock-out  or 
a  strike  on  the  part  either  of  the  master  masons  or  the 
bricklayers. 

The  report  of  the  Joint  Committee  on  Arbitration, 
after  an  introduction,  makes  the  following  important 
statement : 

" .  .  .  We  found  that  the  main  cause  of  trouble 
was  in  the  separate  organizations  endeavoring  to  lay  down 
arbitrary  rules  for  the  regulation  of  matters  which  were 
of  joint  interest  and  concern,  and  which  should  be  regu- 
lated only  by  both  organizations  by  some  species  of  joint 
action.  We,  therefore,  determined  upon  and  submit 
herewith  a  project  for  the  institution  of  a  Joint  Standing 
Committee  for  that  purpose.  .  .  .  This  Joint  Com- 
mittee will  be  constructed  of  an  Arbitration  Committee  of 
five  members  from  each  organization  (the  president  of 
each  being  one  of  the  five),  and  an  umpire,  who  is  neither 
a  working  mechanic  nor  an  employer  of  mechanics,  to  be 
chosen  by  the  two  Committees.  This  Joint  Committee  is 
given  power  to  hear  and  determine  all  grievances  of  the 
members  of  one  organization  against  members  of  the  other, 
and  of  one  organization  against  the  other,  and  to  deter- 
mine and  fix  all  working  rules  governing  employer  and 
employes,  such  as : 


86     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

"  i.  The  minimum  rate  of  wages  per  hour. 

"  2.  The  number  of  hours  of  work  per  day. 

"  3.  Uniform  pay  day. 

"  4.  The  time  of  starting  and  quitting  work. 

"  5.  The  rate  to  be  paid  for  night  and  Sunday  work,  and 
questions  of  like  nature. 

"  And  it  is  also  given  power  to  determine  what  number 
of  apprentices  should  be  enrolled,  so  as  to  afford  all  boys 
desiring  to  learn  the  trade  an  opportunity  to  do  so  with- 
out overcrowding,  so  as  not  to  cause  the  coming  workman 
to  be  unskilled  in  his  art,  or  the  supply  of  labor  to  grossly 
exceed  the  demand  therefor.  It  is  also  given  exclusive 
power  to  determine  all  subjects  in  which  both  organiza- 
tions may  be  interested,  and  which  may  be  brought  before 
it  by  the  action  of  either  organization  or  the  President 
thereof.  .  .  ." 

The  Joint  Committee,  besides  making  this  important 
report,  which  provided  a  means  of  avoiding  future  strikes 
and  lock-outs,  also  drew  up  a  set  of  working  rules,  which 
were  adopted  by  both  organizations  and  have  been  re- 
adopted  year  by  year,  with  but  few  changes,  since  that 
time. 

Each  year  five  members  of  the  Joint  Board  have  been 
elected  by  each  organization,  and  an  umpire  elected  by 
these  ten  members  at  their  first  meeting.  One  of  the  pro- 
visions in  relation  to  the  action  of  the  Joint  Board 
which  was  incorporated  into  the  Constitution  both  of  the 
United  Order  of  American  Bricklayers  and  Stone 
Masons,  and  of  the  Chicago  Master  Masons'  and  Builders' 
Association,  was  as  follows  : 

"  Section  6.  The  Joint  Committee  of  Arbitration  shall 
have  all  evidence  in  complaints  and  grievances  of  a  mem- 


MASON  BUILDERS  AND  BRICKLAYERS    IN  CHICAGO.      87 

her  or  members  of  one  body  against  a  member  or  members 
of  the  other,  or  of  one  organization  against  the  other, 
referred  to  it  by  the  President  of  either  Association, 
and  shall  finally  decide  all  questions  submitted,  and  shall 
certify  by  the  umpire  such  decisions  to  the  respective 
organizations. 

"  Work  shall  go  on  continuously  and  all  parties  interested 
shall  be  governed  by  award  made  or  decisions  rendered, 
provided,  however,  that  work  may  be  stopped  by  the  joint 
order  of  the  Presidents  of  the  respective  Associations 
until  the  decision  of  the  Joint  Committee  is  had.  .  .  .  " 

Section  10  provides: 

"  This  article  having  been  agreed  upon  by  the  Union  of 
the  United  Order  of  American  Bricklayers  and  Stone 
Masons  and  the  Master  Masons  and  Builders'  Association 
shall  not  be  repealed  or  amended  by  either  organization, 
except  upon  a  six  months'  previous  notice  given  to  the 
other  organization,  and  such  notice  shall  not  be  given 
until  after  all  honest  efforts  to  settle  the  grievance  or  diffi- 
culty shall  have  been  made.  .  .  ." 

The  above  agreement,  entered  into  in  1887,  nas  not 
been  changed  in  any  material  point  since,  nor  has  there 
been  any  strike  or  lock-out  of  bricklayers  in  Chicago. 

The  following  are  the  "  Working  Rules  for  1893," 
agreed  to  by  the  representatives  of  the  Chicago  Masons' 
and  Builders'  Association,  and  of  the  United  Order  of 
American  Bricklayers  and  Stone  Masons : 

Section  I.  The  minimum  rate  of  wages  shall  be  fifty  cents  (soc.)  per  hour. 

Section  2.  Eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  day's  work  throughout  the  year 
including  Saturdays  and  Sundays.  Work  to  begin  at  8  A.M.  and  end  at  5 
p.  M.,  but  the  noon  hour  may  be  curtailedby  special  agreement  between  the 
foreman  and  the  majority  of  workingmen  employed  on  the  job,  but  not  in 


88     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

any  way  so  as  to  permit  more  than  eight  hours'  work  between  the  hours 
mentioned. 

Section  3.  No  member  shall  be  permitted  to  work  overtime  under  any 
circumstances,  except  in  case  of  actual  necessity,  and  for  such  overtime,  time 
and  one  half  shall  be  demanded  and  received. 

Section  4.  Eight  hours  shall  constitute  a  night's  work.  Night  work  shall 
not  commence  until  7  P.M.  and  shall  be  paid  for  at  the  rate  of  time  and  one 
half.  Sunday  work  shall  be  paid  for  at  the  rate  of  double  time  ;  also 
Washington's  Birthday,  Fourth  of  July,  Thanksgiving,  Christmas  and  New 
Year's  day. 

Section  5.  Hereafter  no  employer  shall  make  a  reduction  in  the  wages  of 
a  bricklayer  or  stone  mason  without  giving  said  man  or  men  due  notice  pre- 
vious to  making  said  reduction. 

Section  6.  The  stone  masons  shall  cut  all  broken  ashler,  range,  rock-faced 
and  worm  work,  and  all  rough  jambs  and  quoins  in  building  work,  and  all 
rough  pitched  faced  bridge,  viaduct  and  pier  work,  cut  from  Illinois  Lime 
Stone  in  the  city  of  Chicago,  by  any  member  of  the  Chicago  Masons'  and 
Builders'  Association.  This  rule  applies  only  to  stone  of  six  cubic  feet  or 
less,  and  provided  that  a  sufficient  number  of  ^competent  stone  masons  can 
be  had  to  do  the  work.  Otherwise,  the  contractor  or  contractors,  after  giv- 
ing previous  satisfactory  notice  to  the  President  of  the  U.  O.  A.  B.  &  S.  M., 
to  furnish  said  men,  has  the  right  to  employ  stone  cutters  to  finish  the  job. 
The  leveling  of  all  footing  stones  shall  be  done  by  stone  masons.  All  kinds 
of  cut  stone  work  shall  be  set  by  members  of  the  U.  O.  A.  B.  &  S.  M.  No 
stone  cut  by  convict  labor  shall  be  set. 

Section  7.  All  members  will  collect  their  pay  at  least  once  in  two  weeks 
and  before  5  P.M.  on  pay  day.  The  U.  O.  A.  B.  &  S.  M.  will  not  be  re- 
sponsible nor  will  they  collect  any  money  allowed  to  run  longer  than  that 
time. 

Section  8.  In  regard  to  sub-contracting  in  front  lumping,  such  as  press 
brick  and  stone  setting  work,  except  the  setting  of  footing  stone,  any  person 
or  persons  doing  said  work  or  worjdng  on  same  shall  be  either  a  member  of 
the  C.  M.  &  B.  A.  or  a  member  of  the  U.  O.  A.  B.  &  S.  M. 

Section  9.  No  member  of  the  U.  O.  A.  B.  &  S.  M.  shall  stop  or  cause  to 
be  stopped  any  work  under  construction  for  any  member  of  the  C.  M.  &  B. 
A.,  except  by  written  order  of  the  Presidents  of  both  organizations,  under 
penalty  of  a  Twenty-Five  Dollar  ($25.00)  fine.  And  any  member  of  the 
C.  M.  &  B.  A.  or  the  U.  O.  A.  B.  &  S.  M.  violating  any  of  the  rules  agreed 
upon  and  established  by  the  Joint  Board  of  Arbitration  shall  be  subject  to 
the  above-stated  fine. 


MASON  BUILDERS  AND  BRICKLAYERS    IN  CHICAGO.      89 

Although  duly  elected  each  year,  the  umpire  of  the 
Chicago  Joint  Board  of  Arbitration  has  never  been  called 
upon,  since  the  meetings  of  1887,  to  sit  with  the  Board  or 
to  decide  a  disputed  question.  Every  question  has  been 
settled  by  reason  and  calm  deliberation. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE   NATIONAL  ASSOCIATION   OF  BUILDERS  AND 
CONCILIATION. 

Two  years  after  the  New  York  Mason  Builders'  Asso- 
ciation had  formed  the  Joint  Committee  on  Arbitration 
in  co-operation  with  the  Bricklayers'  Unions  of  New 
York,  the  National  Association  of  Builders  was  estab- 
lished and  its  first  annual  meeting  was  held  at  Chicago 
on  the  29th,  3<Dth,  and  3ist  of  March,  1887. 

At  this  meeting  Delegates  from  27  cities  were  present, 
including  six  from  New  York,  two  of  these  latter  being 
gentlemen  who  had  been  active  in  establishing  the  Joint 
Committee  on  Arbitration,  and  who  were  also  Members 
of  that  Committee,  and  although  no  definite  resolution 
was  adopted  at  this  meeting  recommending  arbitration, 
yet  the  Declaration  of  Principles  contained  the  following 
sentence.  ".  .  .  While  upon  fundamental  principles  it 
would  be  useless  to  confer  or  arbitrate,  there  are  still 
many  points  upon  which  conference  and  arbitration  are 
perfectly  right  and  proper  and  upon  such  points  it  is  a 
manifest  duty  to  take  advantage  of  the  opportunities 
afforded  by  Associations  to  confer  together,  to  the  end 
that  strikes,  lock-outs,  and  other  disturbances  may  be 
prevented." 

The  tone  of  the  three  days'  proceedings,  whenever  the 
relation  between  employers  and  employees  was  touched 

90 


ASSOCIATION  OF  BUILDERS  AND   CONCILIATION.      91 

upon,  was  one  of  justice — there  was  no  opposition  to 
Trades-Unions  as  such,  and  also  no  want  of  courage  in 
asserting  the  rights  of  employers. 

The  address  issued  in  December,  1891,  by  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  National  Association,  in  reviewing 
the  work  done  since  its  organization  says  : 

"  The  relation  of  employers  to  their  workmen  and 
methods  to  harmonize  the  interests  of  the  two  factions 
has  been,  from  the  very  initial  proceedings  up  to  the 
present  time,  as  it  must  be  for  years  to  come,  one  of  the 
most  prominent  questions  to  be  considered.  .  .  .  The 
discussions  of  this  question  at  each  convention  show  a 
marked  departure  from  the  treatment  which  the  subject 
has  received  from  any  other  body  of  people,  inasmuch  as 
the  characteristic  of  antagonism  to  the  organized  effort 
of  the  workmen  has  been  eliminated,  and  a  purpose  out- 
lined and  developed  looking  toward  the  discovery  of 
methods  and  ways  whereby  the  plans  of  the  workmen  to 
better  their  condition  may  be  freely  aided,  while  proper 
safeguards  against  disastrous  and  dangerous  action  may 
be  set  up,  through  joint  consideration  and  joint  agree- 
ment on  all  matters  of  mutual  concern,  thus  avoiding  the 
terrible  loss  and  disturbance  caused  by  strikes  and 
lock-outs. 

"  What  has  resulted  from  the  concentration  of  the  views 
of  builders  from  all  over  the  country  on  the  question  of  a 
means  of  settling  all  questions  of  mutual  concern  with 
workmen  ? 

"  The  first  general  result  and  by  no  means  an  insignifi- 
cant one,  is  that  the  workmen  have  become  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  we  are  giving  careful  consideration  to 
the  question  which  they  have  been  hammering  at  in  a 


92      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

one-sided  fashion  for  many  years ;  and  as  they  have  been 
anxious  that  we  should  take  the  matter  up  as  one  worthy 
of  examination,  they  have  become  less  aggressive  and 
are  getting  into  a  frame  of  mind  such  as  is  conducive  to 
putting  plans  for  peaceable  settlement  of  disputed  points 
into  operation. 

"  The  second  general  result  is  that  employers  have  been 
led  to  see  that  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that  an  attitude 
of  opposition  is  the  only  one  for  them  to  assume  in  the 
settlement  of  the  labor  question ;  that,  on  the  contrary, 
it  may  be  the  wiser  course  for  them  to  take  the  initiative 
and  be  a  more  positive  element  in  the  search  for  a  way 
out  of  the  perplexities  which  have  surrounded  the  em- 
ployer and  employee  for  so  many  years.  .  .  . 

"  The  specific  cases  of  benefit  are  not  as  large  in  number 
as  might  be  wished  for.  .  .  .  The  cases,  however, 
.  .  .  have  been  such  signal  successes  that  they  promise 
much  for  the  future.  .  .  . 

"  The  Mason  Builders'  Association  of  Boston  .  .  .  has 
united  with  the  various  organizations  of  workmen  coming 
into  relations  with  that  business,  in  the  adoption  of  the 
identical  plan  of  arbitration  formulated  by  the  National 
Association,  and  has  thereby  succeeded  in  establishing 
more  harmonious  conditions  than  have  ever  before  ex- 
isted ;  a  most  conservative  spirit  has  been  manifested 
on  both  sides,  and  measures  have  been  adopted  by  the 
Joint  Committees  which  are  far  in  advance  of  anything 
which  has  previously  been  thought  possible.  A  fully 
defined  method  of  apprenticeship  has  been  adopted, 
.  .  .  and  this  has  been  thought  so  highly  of  that  it 
already  has  been  adopted  word  for  word,  by  organizations 
of  employers  and  workmen  in  New  Brunswick. 


ASSOCIATION  OF  BUILDERS  AND  CONCILIATION.     93 

u  The  Stone  Masons'  Association  of  Pittsburgh  is  the 
second  instance  where  the  general  plan  of  the  National 
Association  has  been  adopted  in  this  matter  of  arbitration 
of  differences,  or  joint  settlement  of  matters  of  mutual 
concern  between  employers  and  workmen.  The  immedi- 
ate result  in  this  case  was  that  while  all  the  other  building 
trades  in  Pittsburgh  were  involved  during  the  last  year  in 
a  long  and  bitter  struggle,  this  trade  was  peacefully  pur- 
suing its  course,  and  employers  as  well  as  workmen  were 
benefited  thereby.  .  .  ." 

At  the  Convention  of  the  National  Association  of 
Builders,  held  in  New  York  City,  Feb.  9,  10,  n,  12,  13, 
and  14,  1891,  a  Committee  appointed  at  the  previous 
convention  "  to  prepare  a  form  of  arbitration,"  submitted 
their  report,  which  contains  so  important  an  expression 
of  principle  that  it  deserves  to  be  reproduced  in  full. 

It  is  as  follows  : 


The  Committee  appointed  at  the  last  convention  of  the  National  Associa- 
tion of  Builders  to  prepare  a  form  of  arbitration,  offer  to  the  delegates 
assembled  at  the  Fifth  Annual  Convention  the  result  of  their  deliberations. 

The  committee  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  one  of  the  fundamental 
points  of  the  Declaration  of  Principles  of  the  National  Association  recites 
that  ' '  employers  in  the  building  trades  should  recognize  that  there  are  great 
opportunities  for  good  in  associations  of  workmen,  and  while  opposing  and 
condemning  improper  methods  and  action  upon  the  part  of  such  associations, 
they  should  still  be  ready  to  aid  and  assist  them  in  all  just  and  honorable 
purposes." 

Your  committee  believe  it  to  be  possible  and  desirable  for  employers  and 
workmen  to  unite  in  establishing  a  method  by  which  the  interests  of  work- 
men and  the  interests  of  employers  may  each  receive  just  consideration,  and 
through  which  the  relations  of  each  to  the  other  may  be  harmoniously 
adjusted. 

They  believe  that  to  secure  the  establishment  of  such  a  method,  it  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  that  there  be  associations  of  employers  and  associations  of 


94     INDUSTRIAL   ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

workmen,  to  serve  as  representative  bodies  in  the  premises,  in  order  that  the 
action  taken  may  comprehend,  as  fairly  as  possible,  the  collective  interests 
of  the  individuals  on  both  sides,  and  in  order  that  the  practices  recommended 
may,  through  them,  be  more  generally  adopted. 

They  believe  that  no  association  desiring  recognition  as  a  representative 
body  should,  either  in  its  form  of  organization  or  through  its  By-Laws \  rules, 
or  practices,  attempt  to  independently  or  arbitrarily  control  or  influence  the 
action  of  others  ;  but,  recognizing  the  rights  of  others,  should  adopt  measures 
that  will  lead  to  joint  consideration  and  joint  action  in  all  matters  of  mutual 
concern. 

They  believe  that  associations  established  on  the  principles  above  expressed 
should  be  heartily  encouraged,  all  persons  eligible  thereto  should  be  urged 
to  join,  and  every  legitimate  effort  made  to  convince  them  that  it  is  their 
duty  to  unite  with  their  fellows  in  all  honorable  methods  for  the  establish- 
ment and  maintenance  of  just  and  proper  practices  among  themselves  and 
in  their  relations  to  others. 

In  harmony  with  these  views,  and  believing  it  is  the  manifest  duty  of  the 
National  Association  to  recommend  to  its  filial  bodies  a  definite  and  univer- 
sally applicable  method  of  arbitration  in  place  of  objectionable  methods,  or 
lack  of  method,  heretofore  existing,  and  which  shall  fully  recognize  the 
rights  of  both  employers  and  workmen, 

Your  committee  offer  the  following  draft  of  a  form  of  organization  of  a 
Joint  Committee,  and  certain  other  action  deemed  essential,  which  they  be- 
lieve to  be  applicable  for  the  use  of  any  and  all  of  the  various  branches  of 
the  building  trade,  and  offer  it  as  an  honorable  plan,  which  filial  bodies  may 
safely  recommend  to  employers  and  workmen  in  the  building  trades,  for  the 
peaceful  settlement  of  all  matters  of  mutual  concern. 

Your  committee  recommend  that  all  filial  bodies  be  urged  to  present  this 
simple  plan  to  the  various  trades  represented  in  their  bodies,  requesting  their 
various  special  trades  to  organize,  if  not  already  organized,  and  then  offer 
this  plan  to  the  organizations  of  workmen  in  their  trades  as  the  basis  for  a 
mutual  agreement  and  understanding  which  shall  prevent  all  further  disputes. 

In  the  discussion  that  followed  many  wise  and  just 
things  were  said  by  the  members  of  the  Convention,  but 
one  only  can  be  quoted. 

Mr.  Sayward  of  Boston,  Secretary  of  the  National  Asso- 
ciation, in  an  extended  argument  in  favor  of  the  adoption 


ASSOCIATION  OF  BUILDERS  AND   CONCILIATION.      95 

of  the  report,  said  :  "  I  wish  to  be  fair  to  both  sides,  and 
I  wish  to  say  this  much,  that  I  believe  that  organizations 
of  employers  need  improvement  almost,  if  not  quite,  as 
much  as  organizations  of  workmen.  Simply  because  they 
are  employers  does  not  by  any  means  make  them  entirely 
just  in  all  that  they  do.  Many  a  time  they,  too,  are 
arbitrary ;  they,  too,  step  too  far ;  they,  too,  claim  too 
much — arrogate  too  much  to  themselves.  One  of  the 
things  that  the  National  body  is  doing,  or  should  attempt 
to  do,  is  to  try  and  show  how  these  two  great  interests, 
which  are  bound  to  exist,  no  matter  how  much  we  talk — 
the  interests  of  the  workmen  and  the  interests  of  the 
employers,  can  be  harmonized  so  that  justice  will 
prevail.  .  .  ." 

The  report  was  adopted  with  one  amendment,  the  omis- 
sion in  paragraph  6  of  the  words  :  "  All  persons  eligible 
thereto  shall  be  urged  to  join,  and  every  legitimate  effort 
made  to  convince  them  that  it  is  their  duty  to  unite  with 
their  fellows." 

The  plan  proposed  by  the  Committee,  and  endorsed  by 
the  National  Association  of  Builders  will  be  given  in  full 
in  the  Chapter  on  Conciliation  in  Boston,  where  it  was 
first  adopted  as  a  whole,  and  put  into  practice  with  great 
success  as  stated  in  the  "  Address  "  already  quoted. 

The  spirit  of  the  National  Association  is  again  shown  in 
the  following  extracts  from  an  editorial  by  the  Secretary, 
Wm.  H.  Sayward,  in  The  Builders  Exchange  for  July, 
1891. 

"  The  time  has  come  for  the  establishment  of  more 
harmonious  relations  between  employers  and  workmen. 
The  time  for  such  action  has  been  always  present  since 
the  first  man  was  employed,  but  to-day  more  than  ever 


96     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

before  is  the  necessity  apparent,  and  the  necessity  will  be 
greater  to-morrow. 

"  For  years  the  trades  have  been  organizing  throughout 
the  United  States,  strengthening  themselves  and  gradu- 
ally reducing  each  branch  to  a  unit  that  is  weak  or  strong 
as  a  factor  for  good,  in  so  far  as  the  union  is  weak  or 
strong. 

"  The  first  declaration  of  every  trades-union  is  the  fact 
that  the  object  of  the  organization  is  the  betterment  of 
the  condition  of  its  members,  and  by  this  promise  the 
workmen  have  been  drawn  together  until  their  combined 
strength  is  such  that  the  accomplishment  of  desired  ends 
is  attempted  by  strength  only,  and  out  of  the  success 
gained  by  this  strength  have  grown  the  arbitrary  demands 
and  untenable  positions  which  have  utterly  defeated  the 
first  promise  (the  betterment  of  conditions)  in  so  many 
instances.  .  .  . 

"  There  is  a  true  basis  upon  which  the  employer  and 
the  employee  must  stand,  and  each  has  rights  that  the 
other  must  recognize  and  respect.  Each  has  a  just  and 
honorable  position  to  fill,  and  the  duties  of  these  two 
positions  will  never  be  established  until  the  employer  and 
the  employee  come  together  for  harmonious  consideration 
under  such  conditions  that  a  decision  arrived  at  shall  be 
binding  upon  both  elements  of  the  community.  .  .  . 

"  The  method  by  which  more  just  and  harmonius  rela- 
tionships are  to  be  established  is  arbitration.  Employers 
must  recognize  the  fact  that  it  is  their  duty  to  take  ad- 
vantage of  every  honorable  means  that  can  be  devised  to 
correct  the  wrong  conditions  existing  to-day  in  the  field 
of  labor,  and  which  operate  to  the  detriment  of  the  com- 
munity to  such  a  disastrous  extent. 


ASSOCIATION  OF  BUILDERS  AND  CONCILIATION.     97 

"  The  workmen  have  so  long  been  in  the  habit  of  taking 
the  initiative,  entirely  independent  of  the  employer,  that 
the  latter  has  drifted  into  a  condition  of  instinctive  com- 
bativeness  which  creates  and  fosters  the  spirit  of  opposi- 
tion in  the  former. 

"  As  a  problem  in  human  nature,  the  condition  is  simple 
enough.  No  man  can  or  does  expect  to  arrive  at  a  har- 
monious and  satisfactory  determination  with  another  for 
whom  he  has  avowed  opinions  of  enmity  and  distrust. 
The  enmity  and  distrust  must  first  be  wiped  out,  and  the 
common  ground  of  perfect  understanding  by  each  of  the 
true  position  of  the  other  must  be  reached  before  a  satis- 
factory transaction  can  take  place. 

"  It  is  exactly  the  same  in  reference  to  the  building  trades 
to-day.  The  employer  and  the  employee  must  get  to- 
gether upon  the  common  ground  of  understanding  of 
each  other's  true  position  before  action  can  be  taken  upon 
subjects  affecting  their  common  welfare  that  will  be 
mutually  beneficial.  Employers  have  allowed  the  con- 
dition of  affairs  to  drift  along,  dealing  individually  with 
trades-unions,  until  the  weakness  of  their  position  has 
been  clearly  demonstrated  ;  and  after  being  forced  into 
distasteful  action  by  reason  of  failure  to  establish  them- 
selves in  a  position  which  should  enable  them  to  keep 
equity  uppermost,  they  have  been  obliged  to  yield  point 
after  point  until  the  main  reason  of  their  combining,  in 
many  instances,  has  been  nothing  more  than  exasperation. 

"  No  organization  of  employers  formed  for  the  purpose 
of  crushing  trades-unions  can  accomplish  any  good.  This 
is  said  advisedly,  for  the  reason  that  organization  must 
exist  on  both  sides  before  action  can  be  taken  to  affect 
both  sides  as  a  class  or  whole.  When  any  particular 


98      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

union  is  under  the  control  of  men  who  have  not  the  wel- 
fare of  the  trade  and  community  at  heart,  and  the  union 
assumes  a  false  position  that  cannot  be  corrected  by  other 
means,  employers  are  warranted  in  crushing  it  out  of 
existence,  but  they  should  at  the  same  time  advocate  the 
reunion  of  the  workmen  under  principles  of  equity  and 
co-operation  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CONCILIATION    IN    THE   BUILDING   TRADES    OF    BOSTON 
AND  VICINITY. 

1891-1893. 

CONCILIATION  in  the  building  trades  in  Boston  and  its 
vicinity  is  carried  out  on  the  plan  recommended  by  the 
National  Association  of  Builders.  Three  different  Unions 
have  formed  Joint  Committees  with  the  Builders'  Asso- 
ciation. 

In  August,  1891,  the  following  account  of  the  forma- 
tion of  these  Joint  Committees  was  given  in  The  Builders 
Exchange,  under  the  title 

"  PRACTICAL   ARBITRATION. 

"  The  Mason  Builders'  Association  of  Boston  have  been 
the  first  to  make  direct  and  practical  application  of  the 
form  of  arbitration  as  adopted  and  recommended  by  the 
fifth  convention  of  the  National  Association. 

"  Within  a  month  after  the  close  of  the  convention  a 
meeting  of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association  was  held  for 
the  purpose  of  considering  the  advisability  of  adopting 
the  form  of  arbitration  mentioned  and  establishing  a 
Joint  Committee  under  the  rules  suggested  by  the 
National  Association.  It  was  unanimously  decided  that 
the  plan  proposed  offered  the  best  possible  solution  to 
the  complications  which  are  continually  arising  between 

99 


100     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

employers  and  workmen,  and  a  Committee  of  Conference 
was  appointed.  A  request  was  then  extended  to  the 
Bricklayers'  Union,  the  Stone  Masons'  Union  and  the 
Building  Laborers'  Union  to  appoint  similar  committees 
to  consider  the  establishment  of  a  Joint  Committee  of 
Arbitration. 

"  The  unions  mentioned  at  once  took  the  matter  up 
favorably  and  meetings  of  conference  were  separately 
held,  with  the  committees  from  each  union,  which  resulted 
in  the  appointment  of  a  delegation  of  five  members  from 
each  union  to  act  with  a  delegation  of  like  number  from 
the  Mason  Builders'  Association  as  a  Joint  Committee  of 
Arbitration. 

"  The  result  of  the  action  of  the  Joint  Committee  is 
best  indicated  by  the  following  letter,  which  was  issued  to 
members  of  the  employers'  association  about  July  I : 

The  Mason  Builders  Association  of  Boston  and  Vicinity. 

166  DEVONSHIRE  ST.  ,  BOSTON,  MASS. 
To  ALL  MEMBERS  OF  THE  MASON  BUILDERS'  ASSOCIATION  : 

Gentlemen. — The  Joint  Committee  appointed  by  the  association  in  con- 
junction with  the  Bricklayers'  Union,  the  Stone  Masons'  Union  and  the 
Building  Laborers'  Union  has  completed  its  labors,  and,  in  behalf  of  the 
associations  named,  has  agreed  to  the  following  working  rules  for  the  year 
1891. 

All  members  will  be  expected  to  govern  themselves  in  accordance  with 
these  rules,  and  it  is  suggested  that  members  take  particular  pains  to  inform 
their  foremen  and  other  employees  who  have  any  charge  or  direction  of  work, 
or  who  are  authorized  to  employ  workmen,  of  all  details  of  this  agreement, 
and  caution  them  to  observe  the  same. 

WORKING   RULES. 

With  Bricklayers'  Union  : 

i.  Hours  of  labor  shall  be  nine  for  Monday,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  Thurs- 
day and  Friday,  and  eight  on  Saturday.  Working  hours  shall  be  from  seven 
o'clock  A.M.  to  12  o'clock  M.,  and  from  one  o'clock  P.M.  to  5  o'clock  P.M. 


BUILDING   TRADES  OF  BOSTON  AND    VICINITY.     IOI 

2.  The  rate  of  wages  shall  be  (42)  forty-two  cents  per  hour. 

3.  Any  time  worked  before  seven  o'clock  A.M.  or  after  five  o'clock  P.M.  to 
be  considered  as  overtime,  and  paid  for  as  time-and-one-half . 

4.  Work  upon  Sundays,  Christmas,  July  4,  or  Labor  Day,  to  be  paid  for  as 
double  time. 

With  Stone  Masons'  Union  : 

1.  Hours  of  labor  same  as  bricklayers — namely,  nine  hours. 

2.  Rate  of  wages  (42)  forty-two  cents  per  hour. 

3.  Overtime  same  as  bricklayers. 

4.  Holiday  time  same  as  bricklayers. 

With  Building  Laborers'  Union  : 

1.  Hours  of  labor  same  as  bricklayers  and  stone  masons — namely,  nine 
hours. 

2.  Rate  of  wages  (25)  twenty-five  cents  per  hour. 

3.  Overtime  same  as  bricklayers  and  stone  masons. 

4.  Holiday  time  same  as  bricklayers  and  stone  masons. 

Particular  pains  should  be  taken  by  all  members  of  this  association  to  see 
that  the  agreements  entered  into  are  faithfully  observed,  as  it  is  very  import- 
ant that  the  effort  that  is  being  made  to  peacefully  settle  all  questions  of 
mutual  concern  between  ourselves  and  our  workmen  be  conscientiously  sup- 
porttd. 

Per  order  of  the  president, 

J.  ARTHUR  JACOBS, 

Secretary. 

P.  S. — The  inclosed  cards,  with  working  rules  briefly  stated  thereon,  are 
to  be  supplied  to  foreman  and  others  for  handy  reference. 

"  The  cards  referred  to  in  the  postscript  contained  the 
working  rules  as  they  appear  in  the  body  of  the  letter,  and 
were  issued  in  separate  form  for  more  convenient  distribu- 
tion among  the  members  of  the  unions. 

"  The  entire  plan  of  arbitration  (which  follows),  as  ad- 
vocated by  the  National  Association  of  Builders,  was 
adopted  without  the  change  of  a  single  letter,  and  the  form 
of  agreement  mentioned  for  securing  the  establishment  of 


IO2      INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

arbitration  committees,  with  plan  of  organization  of  the 
same,  for  the  use  of  associations  of  employers  and  asso- 
ciations of  workmen  in  all  branches  of  the  building  trade. 

AGREEMENT. 

For  the  purpose  of  establishing  a  method  of  peacefully  settling  all  ques- 
tions of  mutual  concern (name 

of  organization  of  employers)  and 

(name  of  organization  of  employees)  severally  and  jointly  agree  that  no  such 
question  shall  be  conclusively  acted  upon  by  either  body  independently,  but 
shall  be  referred  for  settlement  to  a  joint  committee,  which  committee  shall 
consist  of  an  equal  number  of  representatives  from  each  association,  and  also 
agree  that  all  such  questions  shall  be  settled  by  our  own  trade \  -without  inter- 
vention of  any  other  trade  whatsoever. 

The  parties  hereto  agree  to  abide  by  the  findings  of  this  committee  on  all 
matters  of  mutual  concern  referred  to  it  by  either  party.  It  is  understood 
and  agreed  by  both  parties  that  in  no  event  shall  strikes  and  lock-outs  be  per- 
mitted, but  all  differences  shall  be  submitted  to  the  joint  committee,  and 
work  shall  proceed  without  stoppage  or  embarrassment. 

The  parties  hereto  also  agree  that  they  will  incorporate  with  their  respec- 
tive constitutions  and  by-laws  such  clauses  as  will  make  recognition  of  this 
joint  agreement  a  part  of  the  organic  law  of  their  respective  associations. 
The  Joint  Committee  above  referred  to  is  hereby  created  and  established, 
and  the  following  rules  adopted  for  its  guidance  : 

ORGANIZATION  OF  JOINT  COMMITTEE  AND    RULES    FOR   ITS   GOVERNMENT. 

1.  This  committee  shall   consist  of  not  less  than  six  members,  equally 
divided  between  the  associations  represented,  and  an  umpire,  to  be  chosen  by 
the  committee  at  their  annual  meeting,  and  as  the  first  item  of  their  business 
after  organization.     The  umpire  must  be  neither  a  journeyman  craftsman  nor 
an  employer  of  journeymen.     He  shall  preside  at  meetings  of  the  committee 
when  necessary. 

2.  The  members  of  this  committee  shall  be   elected  annually  by  their 
respective  associations  at  their  regular  meetings  for  the  election  of  officers. 

3.  The  duty  of  this  committee  shall  be  to  consider  such  matters  of  mutual 
interest  and  concern  to  the  employers  and  the  workmen  as  may  be  regularly 
referred  to  it  by  either  of  the  parties  to  this  agreement,  transmitting  its  con- 
clusions thereon  to  each  association  for  its  government. 

4.  A  regular  annual   meeting  of  the  committee   shall  be  held  during  the 


BUILDING   TRADES  OF  BOSTON  AND    VICINITY.     103 

month  of  January,  at  which  meeting  the  special  business  shall  be  the  estab- 
lishment of  "  working  rules  "  for  the  ensuing  year  ;  these  rules  to  guide  and 
govern  employers  and  workmen,  and  to  comprehend  such  particulars  as  rate 
of  wages  per  hour,  number  of  hours  to  be  worked,  payment  for  overtime, 
payment  for  Sunday  work,  government  of  apprentices,  and  similar  questions 
of  joint  concern. 

5.  Special  meetings  shall  be  held  when  either  of  the  parties  hereto  desire 
to  submit  any  question  to  the  committee  for  settlement. 

6.  For  the  proper  conduct  of  business  a  chairman  shall  be  chosen  at  each 
meeting,  but  he  shall  preside  only  for  the  meeting  at  which  he  is  so  chosen. 
The  duty  of  the  chairman  shall  be  that  usually  incumbent  on  a  presiding 
officer. 

7.  A  clerk  shall  be  chosen  at  the  annual  meeting  to  serve  during  the  year. 
His  duty  shall  be  to  call  all  regular  meetings,  and  to  call  special  meetings 
when  officially  requested  to  do  so  by  either  body  party  hereto.      He  shall 
keep  true  and  accurate  record  of  the  meetings,  transmit  all  findings  to  the 
associations  interested,  and  attend  to  the  usual  duties  of  the  office. 

8.  A  majority  vote  shall  decide  all  questions.     In  case  of  the  absence  of 
any  member  the  president  of  the  association  by  which  he  was  appointed  shall 
have  the  right  to  vote  for  him.     The  umpire  shall  have  casting  vote  in  case 
of  tie. 

"  The  following  clauses,  as  recommended  by  the  Na- 
tional Association  to  be  incorporated  into  the  by-laws  of 
parties  to  joint  agreement,  have  been  adopted  by  the 
Mason  Builders'  Association  and  each  of  the  three  Unions 
mentioned : 

A.  All  members  of  this  association  do  by  virtue  of  their  membership  rec- 
ognize and  assent  to  the  establishment  of  a  Joint  Committee  of  Arbitration 
(under  a  regular  form  of  agreement  and  governing  rules),    by  and  between 

this  body  and  the for  the  peaceful  settlement 

of  all  matters  of  mutual  concern  to  the  two  bodies  and  the  members  thereof. 

B.  This  organization  shall  elect  at  its  annual  meeting 

delegates  to  the  said  Joint  Committee,  of  which  the  president  of  this  asso- 
ciation shall  be  one,  officially  notifying  within  three  days  thereafter  the  said 

of  the  said  action  and  of  the  names  of  the 

delegates  elected. 

C.  The  duty  of  the  delegates  thus  elected  shall  be  to  attend  all  meetings 


104     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

of  the  said  Joint  Committee,  and  they   must  be  governed  in  this  action  by 

the  rules  jointly  adopted  by  this  association  and  the  said 

D.  No  amendments  shall  be  made  to  these  special  clauses,  A,  B,  C  and  D, 
of  these  by-laws  except  by  concurrent  vote  of  this  association  with  the  said 
and  only  after  six  months'  notice  of  pro- 
posal to  so  amend. 

"  During  the  meetings  of  the  Joint  Committee  the  ap- 
prenticeship question  was  brought  up  for  consideration, 
and  the  subject  is  at  present  under  advisement.  Much 
that  needed  careful  and  thorough  consideration  has  been 
submitted  by  both  sides  in  regard  to  the  subject,  and  the 
outcome  of  the  consideration  will  be  given  in  these  col- 
umns in  the  next  issue. 

"  These  various  meetings  between  the  master  masons 
and  the  journeymen  have  been  conducted  with  the  ut- 
most harmony  and  good  feeling,  and  the  conservative 
action  of  the  unions  is  deserving  of  the  highest  commen- 
dation. .  .  ." 

During  the  latter  half  of  1891  the  above  agreement  was 
conscientiously  carried  out  by  the  members  of  the  Mason 
Builders'  Association  and  by  the  three  Unions  concerned, 
and  one  most  noteworthy  and  encouraging  fact  in  con- 
nection with  the  matter  is  that  non-union  men  were  al- 
lowed by  the  Union  men  to  work  side  by  side  with  them 
without  molestation.  There  was,  of  course,  no  public 
agreement  by  the  Unions  to  this  effect,  but  in  the  meet- 
ings held  to  settle  the  preliminaries  of  the  Joint  Commit- 
tee the  representatives  of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association 
had  persuaded  the  representatives  of  the  Unions  that  the 
only  wise  course  was  to  maintain  peaceable  relations  with 
non-union  men  and  endeavor  by  argument  to  induce  them 
to  enter  the  Unions,  and  this  had  been  informally  agreed 
to  and  had  been  carried  out. 


BUILDING  TRADES  OF  BOSTON  AND  VICINITY.       IO5 

The  agreement  of  the  Joint  Committee  for   1892  is 
reported  in  the  following  circular : 


The  Mason  Builders  Association  of  Boston  and  Vicinity. 

OFFICE   OF  THE   SECRETARY. 

166  DEVONSHIRE  STREET,  BOSTON,  Feb.  16,  1892. 

To  ALL  MEMBERS  OF  THE  MASON  BUILDERS  ASSOCIATION  : 

Gentlemen, — In  accordance  with  the  agreement  existing  between  the 
Mason  Builders  Association  of  Boston  and  vicinity  and  the  Bricklayers  Union, 
No.  3,  of  Boston  and  vicinity,  the  Joint  Committee  of  Arbitration  has  held 
its  annual  meeting  and  adopted  the  following  rules  for  the  guidance  of  both 
bodies  for  the  year  1892. 

First.  The  rate  of  wages  for  the  ensuing  year  remain  the  same  as  in  1891 ; 
namely,  (.42)  forty-two  cents  per  hour. 

Second.  During  the  months  of  March,  April,  May,  June,  July,  August, 
September  and  October  of  1892,  not  more  than  (9)  nine  hours  labor  shall  be 
required,  in  the  limits  of  the  day  (except  over-time  as  provided  for) ;  and 
during  November  and  December,  1892,  not  more  than  (8)  eight  hours  labor 
shall  be  required  in  the  limits  of  a  day,  except  over-time  as  provided  for. 

Third.  The  working  hours  are  to  be  from  7  to  12  A.M.  and  from  I  to  5 
P.M. 

Fourth.  Work  done  before  7  A.M.  or  after  5  P.M.  is  to  be  considered 
"  overtime,"  and  is  to  be  paid  for  as  "  time  and  one  half." 

Fifth.  Sundays,  Fourth  of  July,  Christmas  and  Labor  Day  are  to  be  con- 
sidered as  holidays,  and  work  done  on  either  of  these  days  is  to  be  paid  for 
as  "  double  time." 

The  Joint  Committet.  jire  of  the  opinion  that  the  time  has  arrived  for  the 
adoption  of  an  eight-hour  day,  and  recommend  that  the  Mason  Builders  As- 
sociation and  the  Bricklayers  Union  have  the  matter  under  careful  considera- 
tion during  the  year,  with  the  view  of  adopting  it  in  1893. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  Joint  Committee,  the  best  interests  of  the  employing 
masons  demand  that  all  journeymen  bricklayers  should  belong  to  the  Brick- 
layers Union,  in  order  that  the  agreements  between  the  two  bodies  may  be 
more  representative  and  effective  ;  for  that  reason,  the  Committee  recom- 
mend all  journeymen  bricklayers  to  join  the  Union  and  that  preference  for 


106     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND  CONCILIATION. 

employment  should  be  given  to  Union  men  by  the  members  of  the  Mason 
Builders  Association,  and  that  all  members  of  the  Association  should  be 
urged  to  carry  out  these  recommendations. 

If  any  workman  does  not  thoroughly  understand  the  value  or  benefit  which 
the  Committee  believes  will  follow  from  all  workmen  belonging  to  the  Union, 
the  Committee  will  be  glad  to  give  a  private  or  public  hearing,  and  will 
endeavor  to  show  them  that  it  is  for  their  advantage  and  for  the  advantage  of 
their  employers  that  they  unite  with  their  fellow- workmen  in  their  respective 
organizations,  and  that  such  membership  will  tend  to  create  better  feeling, 
make  such  action  as  may  be  taken  more  effective,  and  assist  in  the  harmonious 
solution  of  the  labor  problem. 

In  addition  to  this  action,  the  Joint  Committee  has  taken  steps  to  put  into 
operation  the  Apprenticeship  System,  prepared  during  the  last  year  and 
approved  at  the  last  meeting  of  the  Association.  Books  of  registry,  appren- 
tice cards,  blank  certificates  of  graduation,  and  other  papers,  seals,  etc.,  pro- 
vided for  in  this  system,  are  in  course  of  preparation  and  will  soon  be  ready 
for  use. 

Accompanying  this  report  is  a  copy  of  the  full  text  of  the  Apprenticeship 
System  above  referred  to,  also  copy  of  the  agreement  entered  into  by  the  two 
Associations  establishing  the  Joint  Committee. 

All  members  of  this  Association  will  take  due  notice  of  the  matter  con- 
tained in  this  circular  and  govern  themselves  accordingly. 

Issued  by  order  of  the  President. 

J.  ARTHUR  JACOBS,  Secretary. 

The  following  is  the  paper  above  referred  to : 

System  of  Apprenticeship  Adopted  by  the  Mason  Builders 

Association  and  the  Bricklayers  Unions 

of  Boston  and  Vicinity. 

TIME  OF   BEGINNING  AND   TERM   OF   APPRENTICESHIP. 

To  prevent  the  taking  of  apprentices  at  an  immature  age,  when  they  may 
be  considered,  on  the  average,  as  physically  unfit  for  such  laborious  work, 
and  not  sufficiently  educated  to  warrant  leaving  school,  and  to  discourage  the 
beginning  of  apprenticeship  at  a  time  when  the  individual  may  be  considered, 
on  the  average,  as  having  passed  that  period  when  the  faculties  of  mind  and 
body  are  in  that  condition  which  is  most  receptive  of  instruction,  and  most 


BUILDING   TRADES  OF  BOSTON  AND    VICINITY.     IO/ 

readily  adaptive  to  the  requirements  of  a  trade,  the  following  time  and  terms 
are  fixed  : — 

No  individual  shall  be  taken  as  an  apprentice  who  cannot  read  and  write 
the  English  language. 

No  individual  shall  be  taken  as  an  apprentice  until  he  is  sixteen  years  of 
nge. 

No  individual  shall  be  taken  as  an  apprentice  after  he  is  twenty-one  years 
of  age. 

An  apprentice  taken  under  eighteen  years  of  age  shall  serve  until  he  is 
twenty-one  years  of  age. 

An  apprentice  taken  at  eighteen  years  or  over  shall  serve  three  years. 

AGREEMENT   OF   APPRENTICE. 

No  individual  shall  be  taken  as  an  apprentice  unless  he  shall  agree  to 
serve  the  time  fixed  by  these  rules  and  abide  by  other  conditions  and  require- 
ments herein  set  forth. 

AGREEMENT   OF   EMPLOYERS. 

No  member  of  the  MASON  BUILDERS  ASSOCIATION  shall  take  an  individual 
as  an  apprentice  unless  he  will  agree  to  keep  him  under  legitimate  instruction 
as  such,  for  the  full  term  comprehended  in  these  rules,  and  will  otherwise 
comply  with  the  conditions  and  requirements  herein  set  forth. 

REGISTERING   APPRENTICES. 

When  any  member  of  the  MASON  BUILDERS  ASSOCIATION  is  about  to  take 
an  individual  as  an  apprentice,  he  shall  immediately  notify  the  Secretary  of 
the  Association  to  that  effect,  giving  name,  age  and  term  for  which  he  is 
taken. 

The  Secretary  of  said  Association  shall  then  immediately  notify  the  Clerk 
of  the  Joint  Committee,  and  also  the  Secretary  of  the  BRICKLAYERS  UNIONS, 
and  a  record  shall  be  kept  by  both  Associations  and  by  the  Joint  Committee, 
so  that  a  complete  registry  of  all  apprentices  shall  be  available. 

A  card  shall  be  issued  to  each  apprentice  by  the  Joint  Committee,  which 
he  shall  hold  during  his  term  as  evidence  that  he  is  properly  registered  as  an 
apprentice. 

All  members  of  the  MASON  BUILDERS  ASSOCIATION  shall  file,  as  soon  as 
practicable  after  the  adoption  of  these  rules,  a  list  of  the  apprentices  in  their 
employ,  giving  name,  length  of  term  for  which  they  are  taken,  and  date  of 
expiration  of  term. 


108     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

SUPERVISION   BY   JOINT   COMMITTEE. 

The  Joint  Committee  of  the  two  bodies  hereto  shall  have  general  super- 
vision of  all  matters  pertaining  to  the  apprenticeship  system  under  the  rules 
herein  defined  and  established,  and  shall  have  authority  to  settle  all  questions 
in  relation  to  the  same,  and  give  judgment  in  any  appeals  that  may  be  made 
to  it  by  either  employers  or  apprentices.  It  shall  have  authority  to  terminate 
or  cancel  the  apprenticeship  of  any  individual  for  cause. 

It  shall  have  authority  to  place  an  apprentice  for  an  unexpired  term  with  a 
new  employer  should  his  original  employer  die,  or  from  any  other  cause  fail 
to  give  him  opportunity  to  complete  his  term  with  him. 

It  shall  have  authority  to  prepare  blank  graduation  papers  for  apprentices, 
and  to  approve  and  sign  the  same,  when  the  employer  has  certified  thereon 
that  the  apprentice  has  satisfactorily  completed  his  term. 

RIGHTS   OF   EMPLOYER. 

An  employer  shall  have  the  right  to  appeal  to  the  Joint  Committee  to  ter- 
minate or  cancel  an  apprenticeship,  when  there  are  evidences  of  incapacity  on 
the  part  of  the  individual  under  instruction,  or  when  he  shall  be  insubordinate 
or  be  addicted  to  idle  or  dissolute  habits,  or  in  any  other  way  fail  to  carry 
out  his  agreement  with  his  employer. 

RIGHTS  OF  APPRENTICES. 

An  apprentice  shall  have  the  right  to  appeal  to  the  Joint  Committee  should 
his  employer  fail  to  keep  him  under  legitimate  instruction,  or  to  keep  his 
agreement  with  him  in  any  other  respect. 

He  shall  have  the  right  also  to  appeal  to  the  Joint  Committee  and  secure 
through  them  opportunity  to  complete  his  apprenticeship,  should  his  original 
employer  die,  or  from  any  other  cause  fail  to  give  him  opportunity  to  com- 
plete the  same. 

PAY   OF   APPRENTICES. 

Apprentices  shall  be  paid  at  the  rate  of  eleven  cents  per  hour  during  the 
first  year,  twelve  cents  per  hour  during  the  second  year,  thirteen  cents  pet 
hour  during  the  third  year,  and  fifteen  cents  per  hour  for  any  additional  years 
they  may  be  obliged  to  serve  under  these  rules.  These  sums  to  be  paid 
weekly. 

Deduction  may  be  made  from  the  above-mentioned  pay  for  absence  from 
work  without  sufficient  cause,  or  the  apprentice  may  be  required  to  work  be- 


BUILDING    TRADES  OF  BOSTON  AND    VICINITY.     109 

yond  the  stipulated  term,  to  the  extent  of  double  the  time  of  absence,  at  the 
choice  of  his  employer. 

No  deduction  from  the  pay  of  an  apprentice,  however,  shall  be  made,  pro- 
vided he  report  for  duty  at  proper  times,  but  is  unable  to  work  because  of 
weather,  or  failure  of  his  employer  to  provide  work. 

In  addition  to  the  pay  above  stipulated,  each  apprentice  shall  have  an 
allowance  of  fifty  dollars  ($50)  the  first  year,  and  seventy-five  dollars  ($75)  for 
every  additional  year,  payable  in  quarterly  instalments. 

Each  apprentice  shall  be  entitled  to  one  week's  vacation  each  year,  without 
loss  of  pay,  or  two  weeks'  with  one  week's  loss  of  pay,  but  shall  not  be 
allowed  more  than  two  weeks'  vacation  each  year. 

GRADUATION   OF   APPRENTICES. 

When  an  apprentice  shall  have  completed  his  term,  his  employer  shall  cer- 
tify the  same  upon  blanks  provided  for  the  purpose  by  the  Joint  Committee, 
and  transmit  the  same  through  the  Secretary  of  his  Association  to  the  Joint 
Committee.  The  Joint  Committee  shall  then  consider  the  same,  and  upon 
approval,  its  Clerk  shall  attach  the  official  seal  and  signature  of  the  committee, 
notifying  both  Associations  of  this  action,  that  the  record  of  the  apprentice 
may  be  complete  upon  books  of  record,  which  must  be  kept  by  the  Secre- 
taries of  each  body. 

The  certificates  thus  signed  and  approved  shall  be  accepted  as  evidence 
that  the  apprentice  has  properly  graduated  and  is  entitled  to  recognition  as 
a  journeyman,  and  he  shall  not  be  eligible  to  membership  in  the  BRICK- 
LAYERS UNIONS  until  he  has  such  certificate. 

DEPARTMENT   OF   INSTRUCTION. 

Recognizing  the  fact  that  special  instruction  in  the  fundamental  features 
of  the  bricklaying  trade  (which  instruction  shall  comprehend  education  of 
both  mind  and  hand,  so  that  the  individual  shall  gain  a  proper  knowledge  of 
quantity  and  strength  of  materials,  and  of  the  science  of  construction)  is  of 
as  much  importance  as  special  instruction  in  other  trades  or  professions,  and, 
realizing  that  the  chances  of  an  apprentice  to  get  as  much  instruction  as  he  is 
entitled  to,  while  at  work  on  buildings,  is  necessarily  limited,  the  parties  to 
these  rules  agree  that  they  will  join  in  an  effort  to  establish  an  institution  in 
this  city  where  all  the  trades  shall  be  systematically  taught  ;  that  when  such 
school  is  established  they  will  unite  in  the  oversight  and  care  of  the  same  and 
will  modify  these  rules  so  that  a  reasonable  deduction  shall  be  made  from  the 
term  of  an  apprentice  by  virtue  of  the  advantage  gained  through  instruction 
in  said  school. 


HO     INDUSTRIAL  ARBITRATION  AND   CONCILIATION. 

The  agreements  entered  into  for  the  year  1893  between 
the  Masons  Builders'  Association  of  Boston  and  vicinity, 
and  the  three  Unions  with  which  it  has  established  Joint 
Committees,  are  substantially  the  same  as  for  1892,  with 
one  important  exception — the  adoption  of  the  eight-hour 
day. 


INDEX. 


Abolition  of  fines  in  workshops  at  mines  in  Belgium,  44. 

Act,  conspiracy  and  protection  of  property,  1875,  England,  9  ;  temporary, 

1869,  England,  6;  trades-union,  1871,  England,  6. 
Agitation  for  abolition  of  unjust  laws,  England,  14. 
Agreement  between  builders  and  workmen,  Boston,  100,  105. 
Agreement  between  builders  and  workmen,  Chicago,  87. 
Agreement  between  Mason  Builders'  Association  and  Bricklayers'  Unions, 

New  York,  66,  72  ;  agreement  between  Mason  Builders'  and  Laborers' 

Union,  New  York,  77. 

Amalgamated  Engineers,  Society  of,  England,  13. 
Amalgamated  German  Unions  of  New  York  Bricklayers,  66. 
American  Bricklayers  and  Stone  Masons,  United  Order  of,  Chicago,  82, 

86-89. 
Apprentices,  number  of,  to  be  determined  by  Joint  Board  of  Arbitration, 

Chicago,  86. 
Apprenticeship,  system  of,  adopted  by  Mason  Builders  Association  and 

Bricklayers'  Unions  of  Boston,  106. 
Arbitration  and  Conciliation,  success  of  Boards  of,  England,  14,  15,  26, 

28,  29,  34,  39. 

Arbitration,  Boards  of,  in  England,  16,  28. 

Arbitration  Committee,  Joint,  of  Mason  Builders'  Association  and  Brick- 
layers' Unions,  New  York,  66  ;  history  of,  67. 
Arbitration,   Committee    on,   between    Master   Masons  and   Bricklayers, 

Chicago,  84. 

Arbitration,  Committee  on,  of  National  Association  of  Builders,  93. 
Arbitration  in  England,  16. 
Arbitration,  Practical,  99. 

Arbitration,  Reports  of  Bascoup  Board  of  Conciliation  and,  47. 
Arbitration,  Report  of  Mariemont  Board  of  Conciliation  and,  54. 
"Armed  peace,"  19. 

Artisans,  laws  relating  to  workmen  and,  England,  4. 
Association,  Building  Material  Dealers',  New  York,  79. 
Association,  Mason  Builders,  Boston,  92,  99-110;  New  York,  64-80. 
Association  of  Master  Masons  and  Builders,  Chicago,  81-89. 
Association,    National,   of  Builders,  69,   90-98 ;    plan  of  arbitration  of, 

102-104. 

Ill 


112  INDEX. 

B 

Biu'cpup,  colliery  of,  41-54,  59,  63. 

Belgium,  abolition  of  fines  in  workshops  at  mines,  in,  44 ;  conciliation  in, 

41,  54- 
Board  of  Arbitration  and  Conciliation   in   hosiery   trade,    England,   22  ; 

mode  of  procedure  of,  23. 
Board  of  Conciliation  and  Arbitration  at  Mariemont   and  Bascoup,  47  ; 

of  Mariemont,  report  of,  54  ;  of  Bascoup,  reports  of,  47. 
Boards  of  Arbitration  in  England,  16,  28. 

Boards  of  Conciliation,  success  of,  England,  14,  15,  26,  28,  29,  34,  39. 
Board  of  Walking  Delegates,  unjust  action  of,  New  York,  79. 
Borinage,  strike  at,  42. 
Boss  stone  cutters,  Mason  Builders'  Association  asked  to  bring  influence 

to  bear  on,  New  York,  69. 

Boston,    conciliation   in   building   trades,  99  ;    Mason   Builders'  Associa- 
tion of,  92,  99-110  ;  Unions  of  Workingmen,  99-110. 
Bricklayers  and  mason  builders,  conciliation  between,  Boston,  99-110. 
Bricklayers  and  mason  builders,  conciliation  between,  Chicago,  81-89. 
Bricklayers  and  mason  builders,  conciliation  between,  New  York,  64-74. 
Bricklayers  and  master  masons  of  Chicago,  differences  between,  settled  by 

arbitration,  84. 

Bricklayers'  Unions,   New  York,  64-74. 
Builders'  Association  of  Boston,  92,  99-110  ;  of  Chicago,  81-89;  °f  New 

York  City,  64-80. 
Builders'  Exchange,  the,  95. 

Building  Material  Dealers'  Association,  New  York,  79. 
Builders,  National  Association  of,  69,  90-98. 


Capital  and  Labor,  The  Conflicts  of,  2. 

Caste  feeling  a  hindrance  to  conciliation,  34. 

Central  Labor  Union,  69. 

Chambres  d' Explications,  46,  47,  61. 

Chicago,  agreement  between  builders  and  workmen,  87. 

Chicago,  conciliation  between  mason  builders  and  bricklayers  in,  81. 

Chicago,  labor  troubles  in,  81. 

Chicago,  Masons'  and  Builders'  Association,  81-89. 

Chicago,  United  Order  of  American  Bricklayers  and  Stone  Masons,  82, 

86-89. 

Cole,  H.  Oscar,  Chairman,  67. 
Colored  element,  Laborers'  Union,  New  York,  76. 
Colliery  of  Bascoup,  Belgium,  41-54,  59,  63  ;  of  Mariemont,  Belgium,  41, 

42,  54-63. 
Combination  laws,  bad  effects  of,  England,  3  ;  enactment  of,  England,  3 ; 

prosecutions  under,  England,  3. 

Committee  of  Inquiry  of  Conciliation  Board,  England,  26. 
Committee  on  Arbitration  of  National  Association  of  Builders,  93. 


INDEX.  113 

Compulsion  fatal  to  conciliation,  24. 

Conciliation  and  Arbitration,  reports  of  Bascoup  Board  of,  47  ;  report  of 

Mariemont  Board  of,  54  ;  success  of  Boards  of,  England,  14,  15,  26, 

28,  29,  34,  39. 

Conciliation  between  mason  builders  and  bricklayers  in  Chicago,  81. 
Conciliation  between  mason  builders  and  bricklayers  in  New  York  City,  64. 
Conciliation,  Industrial,  Henry  Crompton,  10-27,  42. 
Conciliation  in  Belgium,  41,  54. 
Conciliation  in  Boston  building  trades,  99. 
Conciliation  in  England,  20,  28. 
Conciliation  in  hosiery  trade,  England,  20. 

Conciliation,  success  of  Boards  of,  England,  14,  15,  26,  28,  29,  34,  39. 
Conference,  Committee  of,  in  building  trades  of  Boston,  TOO. 
Conferences  between  Executive  Committee  of  Mason  Builders'  Association 

and  Bricklayers'  Unions,  New  York,  65. 
Conspiracy  and  Protection  of  Property  Act,  1875,  England,  9. 
Constitution  of  the  Mason  Builders'  Association,  New  York,  64. 
Crompton,  Henry,  Mr,,  10,  II,  16,  20,  42,  43,  45. 

D 

Dandois,  Joseph,  funeral  services  of,  49. 

Dealers  in  building  materials,  trouble  with  employees,  New  York,  79. 
Difference  between  an  Arbitration  Court  and  a  Board  of  Conciliation,  18. 
Durham  coal  trade,  disputes  in,  settled,  29. 


fcconomistes,  Journal  des,  42. 

Eidlitz,  Marc,  Chairman,  67. 

Engineers,  lockout  of,  1852,  England,  13  ;  Society  of  Amalgamated,  13. 

England,  Acts,  1869,  6,  1871,  6,  1875,  9  ;  arbitration  in,  16  ;  Boards  of 
Arbitration  in,  28  ;  conciliation  in,  20,  28  ;  labor  laws,  14 ;  success 
of  Boards  of  Conciliation,  14,  15,  26,  28,  29,  34,  39  ;  the  industrial  situ- 
ation, 1876,  ii. 


Fines,  at  mines  in  Belgium,  44,  55-57,  59. 

Finished  Iron  Trade,  Standing  Committee  of  the,  England,  29. 


Guinotte,  Mr.,  51-61. 

H 

Hainault,  province  of,  41. 
Hod  elevator  companies  of  New  York,  78. 

Hod   Hoisting  Employers,  New  York,  78  ;   and   United   Association  of 
Engineers,  agreement  between,  78. 


1 14  INDEX. 

Hoisting  Engineers,  Committee  of,  New  York,  78. 

Hosiery  trade,  conciliation  in,  England,  20  ;  strikes  in,  21. 

House  of  Commons,  Report  of  Select  Committee  of,  appointed  to  consider 

laws  relating  to  workmen  and  artisans,  4. 
House  of  Lords  "  Sweating  System  Committee,"  10. 
Howell,  George,  M.P,,  2,  3,  6. 
Hume,  Joseph,  4. 


Industrial  Conciliation,  TO,  11-27,  42. 

Industrial  situation,  the,  1876,  England,  n. 

Industry,  real  progress  in,  England,  14. 

Iron  trade,  North  of  England,  arbitration  in  the,  28-33. 


Joint  Arbitration  Committee  of  Mason  Builders'  Association  and  Bricklayers' 

Unions  of  New  York  65  ;  history  of,  67. 
Joint  Board  of  Conciliation  and  Arbitration,  description  of,  England,  29- 

33  ;  results  of,  England,  30. 
Joint  Committee  of  Arbitration,  between  bricklayers  and  mastei  masons, 

Chicago,  84  ;  report  of,  85  ;  in  building  trades  of  Boston,  100. 
Journal  de  Charleroi,  49. 
Journal  des  fcconomistes,  42. 


K 


Kettle,  Rupert,  Mr.,  16-19,  24>  25- 
Knights  of  Labor,  69. 


Labor  disputes,  the  peaceable  settlement  of,  28. 

Labor  troubles  in  Chicago,  81. 

Labor  laws,  England,  14. 

Laborers'  Union  of  New  York,  Committee  of,  75  ;  and  Mason  Builders' 

Association,  agreement  between,  76. 
Laborers'  Union  Protective  Society  of  New  York,  76,  77. 
Law  of  1 800  forbidding  associations  of  workmen,  England,  3. 
Lockout  of  engineers,  1852,  England,  13. 
Lockouts,  in  Chicago,  81  ;  in  Brooklyn,  and  New  York,  80. 

M 

Manchester,  Royal  Commission  appointed  to  inquire  into  alleged  outrages 

at,  6. 

Mariemont,  colliery  of,  41,  42,  54-63. 
Mason  Builders  and  Bricklayers,  conciliation  between,  in  Chicago,  81. 


INDEX.  115 

Mason   Builders'    and    Bricklayers'    Unions    of   New   York,    conciliation 

between,  64. 

Mason  Builders  and  workmen,  conciliation  between  in  Boston,  99. 
Mason  Builders'  Association  of  Boston,  92,  99-110;  of  Chicago,  81-89; 

of  New  York,  64-80. 
Mundella,  Mr.,  16-18,  20,  21,  24,  25,  28,  42,  45. 


N 

National  Association  of  Builders',  69,  90-98  ;  plan  of  arbitration  of,  102- 

104  ;  report  of  Committee  on  Arbitration  of,  93. 

New  York,  agreements  between  mason  builders  and  workmen,  66,  72,  77. 
New  York  Bricklayers'  Unions,  64-74  I  Laborers'  Union,  75-76. 
New  York  City,  Progress  of  Conciliation  in,  75-80. 
New  York,  conciliation  between  mason  builders  and  bricklayers,  64-74. 
New  York,  strikes  and  lockouts  in,  80. 
Northumberland  coal-trade,  disputes  in,  settled,  29. 
Nottingham,  Royal  Commission  appointed  to  inquire  into  alleged  outrages 

at,  6. 


Passy,  Frederic,  Mr.,  42. 

Peaceable  Settlement  of  Labour  Disputes,  The,  28 

Piece-work  in  hosiery  trade,  England,  23  ;  in  workshops,  Belgium,  44. 

Pittsburgh,  Stone  Masons'  Association  of,  93. 

Plan  of  Arbitration  of  National  Association  of  Builders,  102-104. 

Plumbers'  Association  of  New  York,  69. 

Practical  Arbitration,  99. 

Progress  of  conciliation  in  New  York  City,  75-80. 


Royal  Commission,  of  1867  appointed  to  inquire  into  alleged  outrages,  6 ; 
°f  1875,  7. 


Say  ward,  Mr.  94,  95. 

Secret  societies  a  natural  result  of  repression,  3. 

Select  Committee  of  House  of  Commons,  appointed  to  consider  laws  relat- 
ing to  workmen  and  artisans,  Report  of,  4. 

Sheffield,  Royal  Commission  appointed  to  inquire  into  alleged  outrages  at,  6. 
Societe  Beige  d'Economie  Sociale,  45. 
Society  of  Amalgamated  Engineers,  England,  13. 
Strike  of  bricklayers,  New  York,  65. 
Strike,  political,  of  Belgian  workmen,  48,  59. 
Strikes  at  Mariemont,  42,  56,  58,  60. 


Il6  INDEX. 

Strikes  in  Chicago,  81. 

Strikes  in  hosiery  trade,  England,  21. 

"  Sweating  System  Committee,"  of  House  of  Lords,  10. 


Temporary  Act  of  1869,  England,  6. 
Trades-Union  Act,  1871,  England,  6. 
Trades-union,  first  essential  principal  of,  8. 
Trades-unions  legalized  by  Act  of  1871,  England,  6. 
Trades-unionism  in  England,  history  of,  2. 

Trades-unions,  value  of,  England,  25  ;  as  affected  by  law,  England,  I. 
Tucker,  John  J.,  Mr.,  69. 

Tuley,  Judge — Umpire  on  Joint  Committee  of  Arbitration  between  Brick 
layers  and  Master  Masons  of  Chicago,  84. 

U 

Umpire,  Judge  Tuley  chosen  in  Chicago,  84  ;  no  necessity  for,  since  1887, 
89. 

Umpire,  to  be  chosen  at  annual  meeting,  by  plan  of  arbitration  of  National 
Association  of  Builders,  102  ;  to  have  casting  vote  in  case  of  tie,  103. 

Umpire,  to  be  chosen  in  case  of  non-agreement  by  Joint  Arbitration  Com- 
mittee, New  York,  67  ;  no  necessity  to  elect,  73. 

Union  of  Bricklayers,  Boston,  100,  105-110. 

Union  of  Laborers,  Boston,  100,  101. 

Union  of  Laborers,  New  York,  75-77. 

Union  of  Stone  Masons,  Boston,  100,  101. 

Unions  of  Bricklayers,  New  York,  64-74. 

United  Association  of  Engineers,  New  York,  78. 

United  Order  of  American  Bricklayers  and  Stone  Masons,  Chicago,  82, 
86-89. 

V 
Voluntary  conciliation,  decisions  come  to  by,  loyally  accepted,  26,  27,  38,  39. 

W 

Wage-earners,  combinations  of,  beneficent,  2  ;  a  s:gn  of  moral  and  intellec- 
tual progress,  2, 

Warocque,  family  of,  42  ;  Georges,  Mr.,  49. 
Watson,  Robert  Spence,  Dr.,  extracts  from  an  article  by,  28. 
Weiler,  Julien,  Mr.,  41-47,  51,  63. 


QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY. 

54 — Relation  of  the  Tariff  to  Wages.  By  DAVID  A.  WELLS.  Oc- 
tavo, paper 20 

58 — Politics  as  a  Duty  and  as  a  Career.  By  MOORFIBLD  STOREY. 
Octavo,  paper 25 

59 — Monopolies  and  the  People.  By  CHAS.  W.  BAKER.  Octavo, 
cloth.  Third  edition,  revised  and  enlarged.  .  .  i  50 

62 — American  Farms:  Their  Condition  and  Future.  By  J.  R. 
ELLIOTT.  Octavo i  25 

63 — Want  and  Wealth.     By  E.  J.  SHRIVER.     Paper    .         .         25 

64 — The  Question  of  Ships.  By  WELLS  and  CODMAN.  Paper,  25 
Mercantile  Marine;  Its  Cause  and  its  Cure.  By  DAVID  A. 
WELLS;  and  Shipping  Subsidies  and  Bounties.  By  JOHN 
CODMAN. 

65 — A  Tariff  Primer,  The  Effects  of  Protection  upon  the  Farmer 
and  Laborer.  By  Hon.  PORTER  SHERMAN.  Paper  .  25 

66 — The  Death  Penalty.  A  Consideration  of  the  Objections  to 
Capital  Punishment.  By  ANDREW  J.  PALM.  New  edition 
in  preparation. 

68 — Parties  and  Patronage.  By  LYON  G.  TYLER,  President  William 
and  Mary  College  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  i  oo 

70 — The  Question  of  Silver.  Revised  edition.  By  Louis  R. 
EHRICH.  Paper,  40  cents;  cloth  .  .  .  .  75 

71 — Who  Pays  Your  Taxes  ?  By  DAVID  A.  WELLS,  THOMAS  G. 
SHEARMAN  and  others.  Edited  by  BOLTON  HALL  .  125 

73 — The  Economy  of  High  Wages.  By  J.  SCHOENHOF,  author  of 
"The  Industrial  Situation, "etc.  Octavo,  cloth  .  .  i  50 

74— The  Silver  Situation  in  the  United  States.      By  Prof.  F.  W. 

TAUSSIG.     Revised  edition.     Octavo  .         .         .          75 

75 — A  Brief  History  of  Panics,  and  their  Periodical  Occurrence  in 
the  United  States.  By  CLEMENT  JUGLAR.  Translated  by  DE 
COURCEY  W.  THOM.  Octavo  i  oo 


QUESTIONS  OF  THE  DAY. 

76— Industrial  Arbitration  and  Conciliation.     By  JOSEPHINE  SHAW 

LOWELL.     Paper,  40  cents;  cloth 75 

77 — Primary  Elections.     A  Study  of  Methods  for  Improving  the 

Basis  of  Party  Organization.     By  DANIEL  S.  REMSEN  .         75 
79 — Joint-Metallism.      By  ANSON  PHELPS    STOKES.      Fifth  edi- 
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80 — "  Common  Sense  "  Applied  to  Woman  Suffrage.     By  MARY 

PUTNAM-JACOBI,  M.D.  Paper,  50  cents;  cloth  .  .100 
82 — A  Sound  Currency  and  Banking  System.  How  it  may  be 

Secured.  By  ALLEN  RIPLEY  FOOTE.  Cloth  .  .  75 
84— Real  Bi-Metallism  ;  or,  True  Coin  versus  False  Coin.  By 

EVERETT    P.     WHEELER.     Illustrated.     Paper,    40    cents; 

cloth 75 

85 — Congressional  Currency.     By  A.  C.  GORDON.     Cloth     .     i  25 
86 — Money  and  Prices.     By  J.  SCHOENHOF,  author  of  "  Economy  of 

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88 — The  War  of  the  Standards.     By  Judge  ALBION  W.  TOURGEE 

Paper,  40  cents;  cloth 75 

89 — A  General  Freight  and  Passenger  Post.     By  JAMES  L.  COWLES. 

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91 — Monetary  Problems  and  Reform.  By  CHAS.  H.  SWAN,  Jr.  75 
92 — The  Proposed  Anglo-American  Alliance.  By  CHARLES  A. 

GARDINER.     Paper 25 

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